Fred Anderson Toyota opened in Cape Coral and sold 400 vehicles in its first month, marking Toyota’s first new Southeast dealership in a decade.
David Dorsey
For the first time in 10 years, Toyota has opened a new dealership in the Southeast, and it sold 400 vehicles in its first month of business.
Fred Anderson Toyota opened at 2025 NE Pine Island Road in Cape Coral.
In its first month after opening April 7, Fred Anderson Toyota sold 300 new and 100 used vehicles, General Manager Scott Rossi said.
“I’ve done this for 38 years, and I’ve been fortunate to work with some great companies,” Rossi said. “But I’ve never had the opportunity to open an open-point dealership until this one. To get one of these awarded is rare. The (seventh-largest) city in Florida didn’t have a Toyota store.”
The logistics of opening the dealership were immense, he said.
Fred Anderson Toyota recently opened at 2025 NE Pine Island Road in Cape Coral. The 83,000-square-foot dealership is the first new Toyota dealership to open in the Southeast in a decade.
David Dorsey
As construction of the 83,000-square-foot facility on 16 acres neared completion at the end of 2025, Rossi began hiring his team.
“You’re taking 141 people who have never worked together,” said Rossi, who most recently worked at Fred Anderson Subaru of Asheville, North Carolina, where he spent five years as general manager. “You’re doing the gymnastics it takes to sell and service automobiles while developing the culture.”
This marks the 20th Fred Anderson dealership and the company’s sixth Toyota dealership.
Rossi said the dealership is a third-generation, family-owned business that emphasizes employee and community relationships while maintaining a strong focus on performance and community involvement.
Founded in 1955 by W.C. “Andy” Anderson, the company owns its other dealerships in North Carolina and South Carolina.
Michael Anderson, the third-generation CEO and president, now runs the company. His father, Fred Anderson, owns a home in Naples and still serves as chair of Anderson Automotive Group.
When Rossi began hiring, he had a temporary trailer on the lot and nicknamed it the Fred Shed. It has since been replaced by the $40 million permanent facility.
“I brought seven guys down from our other stores,” Rossi said. “They all wanted to do this.”
Rossi said the dealership is offering a buy-one, get-one-free oil change promotion to encourage customers to visit the new location and build relationships with potential buyers and service customers.
Fred Anderson Toyota is next door to Nissan of Cape Coral and across Pine Island Road from Cape Coral Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram. The cluster of three dealerships creates a modern car row for Cape Coral, even though the car-row concept has become somewhat obsolete in the internet era, Rossi said.
Vehicles are displayed inside Fred Anderson Toyota in Cape Coral. The dealership sold 400 vehicles during its first month of operation after opening April 7.
David Dorsey
The dealerships share proximity because nearly 60,000 vehicles pass by them daily on average, Rossi said. Nearby retailers include Walmart, BJ’s, Target and Sprouts Farmers Market.
“This is a retail mecca,” Rossi said. “This is the perfect place for car dealerships. But the data will tell you that those days (of car row) are over. Most people shop on their phone, or they do their research on a laptop. Research shows they spend 16 hours online before coming into the store.
“Most educated customers know what they want the minute they walk in the door.”
Lately, those customers have been seeking the 2026 Toyota RAV4, which starts at $31,900.
Nick Plank, a sales associate who has been at the dealership since opening day, said he hasn’t seen anything like the demand for the vehicle. The RAV4 is so popular that the dealership keeps a used 2022 model in the showroom because new ones are sold almost immediately. The dealership had none on the lot June 2.
The RAV4 gets 48 mpg in city driving and 42 mpg on the highway, according to Toyota.
“They get amazing gas mileage,” Plank said. “They don’t even make it off the truck before they sell.”