2025 TDOY Nominee

Julie Herrera is one of a select group of 49 dealer nominees from across the country who will be honored at the 108^th annual National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Show in New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 25, 2025.

The TIME Dealer of the Year award is one of the automobile industry’s most prestigious and highly coveted honors. The award recognizes the nation’s most successful auto dealers who also demonstrate a long-standing commitment to community service. Herrera was chosen to represent the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers in the national competition — one of only 49 auto dealers nominated for the 56^th annual award from more than 20,000 nationwide.

“Watching our employees embrace a culture of caring and excellence has been the most outstanding reward I could have ever imagined,” nominee Herrera said. “Our team is committed to being honest, kind, and fair to one another and to our customers. This core value has contributed greatly to our success.”

In 2001 Herrera earned a B.A. in psychology of organizations from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. Herrera got her start in automotive by taking a summer job selling accessories at a Chevrolet store in San Antonio.

“I was immediately drawn to the dynamic feel of the dealership and quickly made the decision to explore selling vehicles,” she said. “I gathered all my courage and walked into the general manager's office to ask for a sales advisor position, where I was met with a long list of reasons why ‘women don't sell cars.’ This only made me want to succeed more!”

In her first month, Herrera sold 17 vehicles. Later, getting more serious about her career, she moved onto Kahlig Auto Group, also in San Antonio. “That decision led to an incredible journey,” she said. Over the next 17 years, Herrera worked as finance director, new car manager, used vehicle director, and finally general sales manager at a Toyota store the company acquired. “Within two years, we were volume leaders in San Antonio and a top ten volume dealer in Gulf States Toyota,” she said. “These team successes lit a new fire in me and made me realize I had the capacity for more. I was determined to find a way to be a dealer.”

To achieve that goal, Herrera knew she had to experience fixed operations. She was hired by Cavender Toyota in 2012 to learn this essential dealership department. In 2016, she was awarded a Toyota open point in Cedar Park. “This was the opportunity of a lifetime,” she said. “We opened our doors in May of 2017 and have ascended to the top of the national rankings.” In 2023, Toyota of Cedar Park was the second ranked Toyota volume dealer in the nation.

Today, Herrera’s IDEA Auto Group includes three Texas dealerships: Toyota of Cedar Park, City Limits Subaru in Buda, and City Limits Nissan in Austin. “My core strengths are relationship building, talent recruiting, and operational excellence — and sheer optimism,” she said. “We operate on the philosophy that every detail matters, and that mentality is helping us improve the car business, one guest at a time.”

Herrera is a district director for the Texas Automobile Dealers Association (TADA) and serves on the boards of the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers and the Toyota Lexus Minority Owners Dealership Association (TLMODA). “As a member of these associations, I work with colleagues to tackle issues of importance and advocate for our industry and the dealer community,” she said. “TADA most recently put its efforts behind slowing the government mandates on the proposed legislation involving the percentage of electric vehicle sales.”

Herrera also gives back through the many organizations her dealerships support. She believes that this commitment makes both her business and community stronger. She employs a full-time community relations director who works with management to build partnerships and assist in employee volunteerism.

One of her most important civic achievements is working with the Williamson County Children’s Advocacy Center (WCCAC) to realize its dream of building a new facility. “This nonprofit provides hope, healing, and justice for children and families in the wake of child abuse investigations,” she said. “We have nearly completed a three-year, $750,000 campaign to support the expansion and renovation of the center.”

In collaboration with TLMODA, Toyota of Cedar Park has worked with the local Salvation Army to donate 200 backpacks to underserved families at the start of the school year and more than 1,000 boxes of food to feed families in need during the holidays. Other groups she supports include Hill Country Community Ministries, Leander Educational Excellence Foundation (LEEF), the United Way, Leander Chamber of Commerce, Austin Angels, and PAWS Shelter of Central Texas, to name a few.

Herrera was nominated for the TIME Dealer of the Year award by Perry Watson IV, president of the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers.