FEATURE
Toyota’s Innovative Dealer Environmental Excellence Program
D.E.E.P. is a voluntary, easy-to-implement program designed to help dealerships reduce energy, water, waste, carbon emissions and operational costs. It provides technical assistance to Toyota and Lexus dealerships to help measurably improve environmental performance and recognizes dealers that demonstrate significant reductions in energy and water use while engaging with their local communities.
The program began as a pilot in 2021 with 12 U.S. Toyota dealerships and launched nationwide for all Toyota and Lexus dealerships in 2023.
In April 2024, D.E.E.P. became the first dealership program to be recognized with a Department of Energy (DOE) Better Practice Award. DOE’s Better Project and Better Practice awards recognize partners for their innovative and industry-leading accomplishments implementing decarbonization, energy and water efficiency, or waste reduction initiatives.
Participating Toyota and Lexus D.E.E.P. dealerships across the U.S.
As of the end of March 2025, 107 Toyota and 7 Lexus dealers across the U.S. have enrolled in D.E.E.P.
Cumulatively1, these 114 dealerships have:
- Saved 35,503 MWh of energy, which is equivalent to the annual energy use of 1,150 homes.2
- Avoided 18,496 metric tons of CO2e.
- Saved 460 million gallons of water.
D.E.E.P. Recognition
Each year, TMNA recognizes participating dealers for their environmental performance and community outreach activities.
The following dealerships received awards in 2025:
Hansel Toyota: Gold
Swope Toyota: Silver
Santa Margarita Toyota: Bronze
Fort Dodge Toyota Ford: Bronze
Findlay Toyota: Bronze
Ventura Toyota: Bronze
Toyota of Irving: Bronze
In April 2022, Hansel Toyota in Petaluma, California, was the first dealership to be recognized by D.E.E.P. with a Bronze level award.
Santa Margarita Toyota in California was recognized by D.E.E.P. with a Bronze level award in April 2023.
Swope Toyota in Kentucky received a Bronze D.E.E.P. award in April 2024, becoming the fourth dealership to be recognized by the program.
Ventura Toyota in Ventura, California, was among the first ever group of dealerships to get certified under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ENERGY STAR program.
[1] Cumulative data points are from April 2021 (when D.E.E.P. launched) to September 2024.
[2] https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator
