Monrovia Auto Dealer Nominated For Top Industry Award

Adapted from a Time press release:

Peter Hoffman, president of Sierra Autocars, Inc. in Monrovia, has been nominated for the 2013 TIME Dealer of the Year award, one of the top awards within the automobile industry.

Hoffman is one of 57 dealers across the nation who be honored at the 96th annual National Automobile Dealers Association Convention & Exposition in Orlando, Florida, on Feb. 9, 2013.

Ally Financial, one of the award's sponsors with Time Inc. News and Sports, will contribute $1,000 to each nominee’s charity of choice and be recognized on its website, AllyDealerHeroes.com.

Hoffman, 62, was chosen to represent the Greater Los Angeles New Car Dealers Association in the national competition.

Hoffman joined the family business started by his father, Lathrop, after successful careers as an engineer and as a lawyer. He graduated from La Salle High School in Pasadena, California, in 1968 and earned a BS in aerospace engineering from the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, in 1972. Hoffman received an MS and a JD from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1975 and 1981, respectively.

When Hoffman was a partner in his law firm, his father was establishing a succession plan for the dealerships and asked Hoffman to take the lead. “I didn’t really know much about the business, but felt a little frustrated with law, where you were always giving others advice but not really living with the consequences,” he said of his decision to take over Sierra Autocars 23 years ago. “I welcomed the chance to work with my father, which has been very rewarding.”

In addition to running a successful family of dealerships, Hoffman is proud of the contribution his company makes to the community.

Sierra Autocars aids the local library, schools and hospitals, YMCA, Boys & Girls Club, several service organizations, the Foothill Unity Center (a food bank), Little League, soccer teams, the police and fire departments, Boy Scouts and more. He has also served as a trustee for La Salle High School, AYES (Automotive Youth Education Systems) coordinator for Monrovia High School, director of Santa Anita Family Service, long-time member of the Kiwanis Club of Monrovia and was named 2004 Humanitarian of the Year by Foothill Unity Center, which helps neighbors in crisis.

“It is most meaningful to us that that Sierra and the Hoffman family are an important part of the community we serve and that our communities are stronger for us being here,” Hoffman concluded. He and his wife, Toni, have two children.