DEALER SPOTLIGHT RAUL J. GOMILA CITY KIA OF GREATER ORLANDO CFADA is over 90 years strong because of engaged and caring members like Raul J. Gomila, General Manager, City Kia of Greater Orlando. We recently sat down with Raul and talked with him about his career, experiences in the auto industry, and how EVs are changing the industry. We would like to thank Raul for his time and hope you enjoy getting to know him as much as we did. How and why did you make the auto industry a career? During the 1980s, I sold a lot of computers and hardware. Then I got the idea with some guys to invent a game for Nintendo called Action 52. That took the rest of the decade. After that, in 1990, I got into the car business by accident. A friend asked me to help him at a big Toyota store in South Florida. I went in for a few days to close deals and got bit by the snake. I’ve been at it ever since. I took over at City Kia three years ago. What is your favorite part about working in the auto industry? I love people, and they are what really keep me excited and engaged every day. City Kia is one of the highest-ranked Hyundai buying stores in the country in new car sales and is top two in the country in certified pre-owned vehicles. We’ve come a long way, but what keeps me engaged is the family we built and the customers. I love giving a solution to a person in a tough situation so they can go on working and have a reliable vehicle, especially in Florida. What was your best day ever in the car business? I’ve had so many. After the 2008 recession, doing Cash for Clunkers was a whole new way of selling cars, and it was so much fun getting these old, beat-up cars. The government subsidized the trade-in, and we crushed the cars. We do some charity events at different levels at different locations. There’s one case where the mom was single with three children. Two had cancer, and the other one had a rare genetic disease. I donated a car to that family, paid for a whole Christmas dinner and gave them gift cards to buy each other presents. That was a big deal for me. It humbled me to help them. Victories are another thing we celebrate; it was a big deal when our dealership became number one in Central Florida. But really, every day is a great day. The best day is every day that God lets me open my eyes, sit behind the wheel and do what I do. How did you get to where you are now with Kia? I was a partner in two dealerships down south for many years, and I had one of the top-performing stores in the country. It was a Hyundai store. We also had a Kia store and many other franchises. In 2016, I decided to do something different and became a fixer. People would hire me to fix stores that were in trouble. I’d work there for 12–16 months and then move on to the next project. It was interesting and heartbreaking at the same time, but you are never done. Some people do that for their whole career, but it wasn’t for me. I decided to find a new store in a metro market where I could make a difference. Then I met Curt Werner. Curt is the son of the founder of Werner Service & Trucking, one of the world’s biggest trucking companies. He invested in City Kia in 2004. Curt also has Werner Hyundai, Werner Genesis and Werner Kia in Tallahassee. Continued on page 12 10 ACCELERATE
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTg3NDExNQ==