When billionaire investor Warren Buffett became the newest entrant in the auto-dealership business last year, Toyota Motor Corp. rolled out the red carpet.
The world’s largest carmaker welcomed Buffett within weeks after his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. agreed to acquire Van Tuyl Group, the largest closely held U.S. auto dealer, said Bob Carter, senior vice president of Toyota’s U.S. operations. Carter set up a meeting for Buffett with President Akio Toyoda while his boss was in Los Angeles for a Lexus dealer meeting at the Dolby Theatre, which hosts the Academy Awards.
Carter managed to swing a meeting of his own with the famed investor.