Car Wars.

The owners of Parkway Mazda Infiniti dealership in west Little Rock said Toyota Motors Sales U.S.A. Inc. of Torrance, Calif., cost them millions and have filed a lawsuit.

Steve Smith and Bill Carlton, owners of Smith-Carlton LLC III (doing business as Parkway Toyota), bought a Toyota dealership in Memphis in 1998 on the understanding that they could move it to the Collierville suburb, according to their lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court.

Smith-Carlton spent $1.7 million for the inventory and was going to pay another $700,000 once the dealership was moved.

In the spring of 2000, Smith-Carlton applied to the Tennessee Motor Vehicle Commission for approval to move the dealership.

But they were shot down because Toyota Motor Sales had previously granted the Collierville market area to another Toyota dealership.

Smith-Carlton was forced to continue operating the dealership in an unfavorable area of Memphis, resulting in a "substantial loss of operating revenues and lost profits exceeding $.1 million annually," Smith-Carlton said.

And because the dealership couldn't be moved, Smith-Carlton sold it in September 2000 for a loss of more than $5 million.

Smith-Carlton said Toyota Motor Sales breached its contract and was negligent. Smith-Carlton is seeking more than $7 million in damages.

Toyota said it hasn't seen the lawsuit, so it couldn't comment.