WFAA 8 Project Green WFAA.com

The LaFontaine Automotive Group has spent about $15 million in the last two years building a sprawling, multibrand auto dealership in Highland, Mich., investing $2 million in "green" initiatives.

The hydraulic lifts in the service bay are lubricated with vegetable oil. Eighty-five skylights dot the ceiling. Doors are made of pressed corn. A costly geothermal heating system warms the building. Salespeople will wear organic shirts and water for car washes will be reused when the new dealership opens next month.

"I think 100 percent that this is going to be an angle we can leverage with customers," said Ryan LaFontaine, general manager of the family-owned dealership.

Toyota Motor Corp. is making the same bet. By 2011, it expects to have 100 "green" dealerships, a little less than 10 percent of its U.S. dealer network. Toyota has already drawn up a prototype store design that dealers can follow to automatically gain environmentally friendly certifications. On Thursday, Toyota will announce an effort under which the company will help about a dozen dealers build new, highly energy-efficient facilities.

Mike Bevan, Toyota's national advertising manager, also predicts "a clear marketing advantage."

Not all are convinced spending heavily on green innovations makes good business sense, however. For instance, AutoNation Inc., the nation's largest dealership chain and a bellwether for retailing trends, doesn't think dealerships have to go that far.

"Right now, we think there are other ways to go to be a good corporate citizen," AutoNation spokesman Marc Cannon said. "I think it's a huge investment, and I applaud these people for making the move, but you have to look at all the factors at play in a dealership."

AutoNation, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is trying to cut energy use in its stores through more modest measures like installing energy-saving lighting, but it isn't planning sweeping redesigns.

And Mr. LaFontaine and other dealers still face a sensitive issue: While they might be cutting their dealership's electric bill, they still sell gas-guzzlers like the Toyota Sequoia or the GMC Yukon, which have drawn criticism from environmentalists.

Nevertheless, other auto dealers and makers are thinking the same way. At General Motors Corp., Bill Hepburn, an executive responsible for dealer relations, said he is talking to almost all of GM's U.S. dealers about environmentally friendly makeovers. GM has been adding green vehicles to its lineup and has cut energy use of its own plants and buildings. Dealers, Mr. Hepburn said, are "the sort of third step in a three-legged stool."

Mr. LaFontaine said his family has received "phone calls from all over the area," including one from GM Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner to check on the project's progress.

The drive is aimed at saving money, appealing to increasingly energy-conscious consumers and deflecting the criticism environmentalists often aim at the auto makers.

Some car companies are also seeking so-called LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, designations from the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council, which recognizes buildings that are environmentally friendly in their construction, design and operation. Mr. LaFontaine is hoping his family's store, will qualify for the top LEED designation.

Pat Lobb Toyota in McKinney, Texas, one of the first LEED-certified dealerships, has kicked off advertising touting the green virtues of the dealership, such as a water cistern used for recycling water.

John Mathews, Mr. Lobb's business partner, said the company went "green" to save money.

David Dempsey, a retired Delta Air Lines pilot, traveled 30 miles from home, passing several competing dealerships along the way, to purchase a hybrid Prius from the dealership.

Earlier this year, Mr. Dempsey sold his nearly new Chevrolet Avalanche because "it was just sucking too much gas."