LAcarGUY Wins Sustainable Quality Awards Grand Prize
LAcarGUY is proud to announce that they will be honored with the grand prize at the 2011 Sustainable Quality Awards (SQA) at the Sheraton Santa Monica from 11am – 2pm on Wednesday, April 27th. The SQAs, a partnership between the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce, Sustainable Works and the City of Santa Monica, celebrates local business achievement in economic development, social responsibility, and stewardship of the environment.
LAcarGUY is the first automotive dealership to win an SQA grand prize reinforcing the company’s leadership in an industry not known for its earth friendly practices. The grand prize was based on a number of factors including:
• LAcarGUY is #1 Hybrid dealer in the world, and Toyota Santa Monica is the #1 Prius dealership in the world.
• LAcarGUY offers vehicles at varied price points that utilize different energy sources (gasoline, hybrid, electric) lending itself to all economic conditions and customer choice.
• Toyota Santa Monica won the coveted Environmental Sustainability Award presented by Senator Pavley’s office.
• LAcarGUY was the first automotive dealership in the country to install the “Level 2” SAE J-1772 EV chargers for the new plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles.
• LAcarGUY is providing open access to the chargers at no cost in order to facilitate the adoption of electric vehicles.
• Lexus Santa Monica is the #1 Lexus Hybrid Dealer in the U.S.
• LAcarGUY spent close to $15 million renovating the Lexus Santa Monica dealership instead of tearing it down.
• In January 2011, a major LED retrofit was executed at Lexus Santa Monica.
• LAcarGUY created the position of Manager of the Environment, a Green Team and a Green Newsletter that includes tips for employees on how to conserve energy in the office and at home.
• LAcarGUY has a long history of giving back to the community, and in 2010 employees volunteered at 15 events for a total of 650+ pro-bono hours.
• In 2010 LAcarGUY donated $200k to a side range of environmental charities including Heal the Bay, Environmental Media Association, Global Green, Tree People and Sustainable Works.
The 16th Annual Sustainable Quality Awards are Santa Monica’s most prestigious environmental event, and will be presented by LACarGUY and Morley Builders at the Sheraton Santa Monica on April 27th, 2011. Sarah Backhouse, host of Discovery’s “Planet 100″ show is the emcee, and Evan Kleiman, host of Good Food on KCRW will give the luncheon keynote.
Please take a few minutes and enjoy some of the photos from a few of our events:
Lexus CT200H Launch Event
Heal The Bay Coast Cleanup
Toyota Santa Monica celebrates unveiling of EV Charging Stations
Arbor Day 2011
LAcarGUY’s Mike Sullivan Finishes Third At Toyota Long Beach Pro/Am Race
In a field fill with celebrities and racing stars, LAcarGUY‘s Mike Sullivan battled hard to a podium finish of third in the Celebrity Class and a very solid fifth place overall in the 2011 Toyota Pro/Celebrity race during the Long Beach Grand Prix weekend. Mike finished just behind former “Malcolm In The Middle” star Frankie Munoz, who is a highly skilled driver and competed in the Pro category!
By participating in the race Toyota donated $5,000 in Mike’s name to the Racing for Kids foundation. Racing for Kids is a national nonprofit program benefiting children’s hospitals in Long Beach and Orange County, Calif. Toyota has donated $1.9 million on behalf of the race and its participants to various children’s hospitals since 1991.
The Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race is scheduled to be broadcast on the Speed Channel on Sunday, May 1, at Noon PDT and will be rebroadcast after that. (See local listings or http://www.speedtv.com for times.)
You can see the overall results below and a few pictures from the event and the LAcarGUY team cheering Mike on.
Pacific Porsche Brings LAcarGUY Style To Trump National Golf Club Event
This past Sunday, Pacific Porsche participated as a proud sponsor of the Wine & Beer Festival at the Trump National Golf Club above the picturesque cliffs of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, just minutes from our Torrance location. Proceeds went to the Providence Little Company of Mary and Rotary Club of Rancho Palos Verdes while the large crowd spent a glorious day enjoying boutique tastes from wineries and breweries both near and far along with fantastic foods.
With a fine display of Porsche vehicles: 911 GT3RS, Panamera Turbo, Cayenne Turbo and Boxster Sport Convertible, guests were able to satisfy their tastes with a range of performance, price and prowess. While many gravitated immediately to the recognizable 911 shape, the Panamera likely garnered top attention and was parked as the centerpiece of the arrangement.
Attendees enjoyed time sitting in and walking around the vehicles with questions ranging from the options for the new Panamera to performance specs of the Boxster, qualifications and comparisons of the 911 variants, with many asking the ultimate question: “Why have I not traded my current car in on one of these?”. Having five models on hand, even with the steady flow of guests, allowed for many to take their time in the Porsche of their choice.
The day was another culmination of what the LAcarGUY family of dealerships feels so strongly about and is what people are looking for: local community events and involvement, the opportunity to raise awareness and funds for some great organizations, being close to the ocean and nature as well as offering those that want the best, the right automotive experience.
LAcarGUY Supports The Santa Monica Pier Paddleboard Race And Heal The Bay
Kick off summer with the Santa Monica Pier Paddleboard Race, featuring up to 250 paddle contestants, outrigger canoe and dory boat demonstration competitions and a paddle gear exhibition, on Saturday, June 12 from 8 AM to 4 PM.
The event is a benefit for Heal the Bay, an environmental nonprofit dedicated to making Southern California coastal waters and watersheds, including the Santa Monica Bay, safe, healthy and clean. Santa Monica-based Heal the Bay and its public marine education facility, the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, will receive a portion of gross proceeds from the event.
The start and finish of the races will take place on the sand immediately adjacent to the pier with the course running north and south in the heart of the Santa Monica Bay. The standup paddle and prone paddleboard races feature 5.5 mile and 1 mile courses, both of which take paddlers around the historic Santa Monica Pier.
For more event details, including course maps and a full list of sponsors, please click here.
LAcarGUY and Pacific Porsche Want You To Get Your Drive On!
It’s not every day that you get to take in the entire Porsche product line. Better yet, get a chance at driving one. On a race track, under the guidance of the Porsche Sport Driving School around some of the Porsche Owners Club elite! Now we’ll add the icing on the cake: Your chance is at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana (yes, your back yard) on June 4 and 5.
So if you love Porsche cars, autocross, LeMans racing, learning, listening or all of the above, you’ll want to take part in the first come, first served event. Pacific Porsche is pleased to invite you to take part in this unbelievable experience, even your camera-ready smartphone won’t believe what happened to it!
Earth Day Green Lounge Event At Lexus Santa Monica a Success!
With nearly one thousand people celebrating Earth Day at our own Lexus Santa Monica, the Green Lounge event struck a chord in the luxury-green Los Angeles beach-side community. The evening brought together celebrities, thought leaders, top media, entertainers and decor with a hyper-focus on green/sustainability and the environment. Our Lexus showroom was converted into a “Buddha Bar” style lounge with green decor and surrounded by wonderful sights and sounds, not to mention cuisine.
In each of the lounges, guests could sample and buy products, meet with the companies’ brand ambassadors and be a part of the of the unique event in an eco-luxurious setting.” Part of the evening was set aside to honor leaders and advocates in the environmental, wellness and philanthropic arenas:
Mike Sullivan has been a tireless advocate and leader for green and environmental issues both in the Los Angeles community as well as the automotive industry. As the worldwide top-selling dealer for both Lexus and Toyota Hybrids and a focus on lowering the carbon footprint that businesses impact the earth with, the family of dealerships is part of a larger movement building today in proactive ways to minimize the impact the earth and this is the one day each year that the focus is magnified.
Award recipients included Josie Maran of Josie Maran Cosmetics (Green Business Wellness Award), Mary Murphy of So You Think You Can Dance (Effecting Change Award), and Rory Freedman, co-author of Skinny Bitch (Wellness Award). Global Green, the Southern California-based eco-company received donations at the front door from attendees. Two members of the LAcarGUY team are local board advisers to Global Green, which is part of Green Cross International (GCI), created by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev “to foster a global value shift toward a sustainable and secure future by reconnecting humanity with the environment.”
Going Green is for big and small!
Not your typical Lexus Santa Monica guests!
