Carlos Liriano is an inspiring example that the American Dream is alive and well. Born in Cuba, he and his parents emigrated from communist Cuba to New Orleans, Louisiana when he was nine years old. Carlos became the first in his family to go to college, receiving a bachelor’s degree in Management and Finance from Southeastern Louisiana University.

His automotive career began directly out of college at Performance Toyota in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In four short years, Carlos went from Baton Rouge’s Rookie Automotive Salesperson of the Year to Sales and Finance Manager at Louisiana’s number one Toyota dealer, Lakeside Toyota.

Over the course of twenty-five years, Carlos gained valuable experience while climbing the ranks of various automotive organizations in Louisiana. From his stint at Don Bohn Ford in Harvey, Lousiana to his turn as General Manager of both Toyota of Slidell and Northshore Toyota, Carlos developed a proven track record of success as a hands-on, full-time dealer operator. Carlos’s Toyota dealerships won numerous awards such as Charter Dealer for Signature Certification, Market Share Leader for GST in both cars and truck sales several years running, multiple President’s Awards, Pinnacle Awards, and TMS Corporate Sales & Service Excellence recognition.

Carlos fulfilled a long-term goal of owning his own Toyota dealership when he became Dealer Principal of a new Toyota franchise—Lost Pines Toyota in Bastrop, Texas—in March 2012.

Deeply involved in supporting their community, Carlos and his family (wife Laurie and four children—Christy, Carmen, Scott, and Michael) spearhead or are involved in numerous activities. The Liriano family brought their love for food, family, and passionate community spirit to Lost Pines Toyota and have been dishing up more than just truly exceptional customer service. Some Fridays have been dedicated to seasonal or special causes during their Gumbo Friday monthly event, and they support breast cancer awareness, Veteran’s causes with the district’s VFW and Color Guard, “Stuff the Truck” with local food, school supply, and toy drives, Boys & Girls Clubs fundraisers, partners to bring a new YMCA, and creating Xtreme Xperience for X-Games and bringing it to Austin. Carlos also supports multiple chambers and county festivals and personally champions education initiatives in his fast-growing community.

Due to Carlos’s concern for the environment, Lost Pines Toyota became Central Texas’ first and only LEED Gold Certified Auto Dealership. His eco-friendly dealership has eliminated paper consumption by 60 percent; data is scanned, electronically stored and archived; and the dealership prioritizes using digital tablets throughout the sales department for all credit applications, digital contracting, electronic menus and worksheets, and uses green products whenever possible.