August 2026
How can our industry help people from traditionally underrepresented communities become successful franchised dealers?
This month, I joined many familiar industry faces at the annual conference of the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers. It was my second time attending and my first speaking at the event.
Founded in 1980, NAMAD advocates for greater diversity and opportunity throughout the automotive industry, particularly by creating pathways for minority entrepreneurs and employees to succeed.
The organization is growing rapidly. You could see it in the size of the conference and feel it in the enthusiasm of the people there. And its growth comes as the country we serve is changing, too.
One of my biggest takeaways was something I've said many times before: Our dealerships should look more like the communities we serve.
Turn on the news and you'd think Americans can't agree on anything involving race or diversity. What we witnessed at NAMAD was quite different: hundreds of people from all backgrounds united around a simple idea: If someone has the talent, drive, and determination to become a leader or ultimately own a dealership, they deserve a fair shot.
The numbers back it up. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 84% of people working at automobile dealerships in 2024 were white, 9% were Black, and 3% were Asian. About 20% were Hispanic or Latino. One-third of automobile buyers are minorities. “It’s the business case that makes the most sense for inclusive economics,” NAMAD chair Preston Watson IV told our friend Jim Fitzpatrick at CBT News.
Those numbers offer you an enormous pool of talent and opportunity that you may not be reaching.
Consider Northern Virginia. Dealerships there serve customers from practically every corner of the world. Having employees who speak Mandarin, Vietnamese, Spanish, or another language isn't checking a box. It's a competitive advantage.
When customers can work with someone who speaks their language or understands their community, you've made the process easier and more comfortable. That's good customer service, and good business.
“Our dealerships should look more like the communities we serve.”
—Don Hall, VADA
The same principle applies to women, who represent just 23% of the industry's workforce.
Women have remained underrepresented in dealerships for decades, in part because our industry's traditionally long, inflexible hours can be difficult for primary caregivers, who are still disproportionately women. Yet women have enormous influence over vehicle purchases — including plenty of married men who aren't buying a car without talking it over with their wives.
One Richmond dealer moved to an all-female team of service advisors and found it helped solve longstanding organizational and communication challenges.
If women make up roughly half the population, we should be asking why they remain such a small percentage of the dealership workforce — and what we can do to bring more women into automotive retailing and leadership.
At VADA, I'm proud of the progress we've made. Women have chaired our association, serve on our board and Executive Committee, and continue to take on greater leadership roles. Our newest board members are intentionally our youngest ever. As our industry changes, your association should change with it.
Creating a path to dealership ownership
I'm also proud that Virginia has taken concrete action to create opportunities for minority dealership ownership. VADA supported a change to Virginia's franchise laws involving what is known as a manufacturer's "right of first refusal."
Here's a simple example of how a right of first refusal (ROFR) works. Imagine a dealer decides to retire and agrees to sell the dealership to another established dealer. In some cases under the franchise agreement, the manufacturer has the right to step into that transaction and substitute a different buyer. Virginia law has long limited the exercise of a ROFR, balancing the interests of both the selling and buying dealers.
Under Virginia's 2019 law change, the ROFR right was further limited because of some manufacturer abuses in the process. However, we ensured that the manufacturer generally may still exercise a ROFR if it has a formal program to increase minority dealership ownership and its intervention results in a minority dealer owning and controlling at least 51% of the dealership.
VADA believed it was critical to maintain an opportunity for that power to help put a qualified minority entrepreneur into the dealer's chair.
“For communities that historically haven't had the same opportunities in our industry, I think of it as a hand up, not a handout.”
I've been around long enough to know successful businesses don't pretend the world around them isn't changing. Good dealers study the numbers, know their markets, listen to their customers, and adapt.
We need to bring that same thinking to our workforce and the next generation of dealership owners. That means recruiting talented people from every background, developing them into leaders, and giving those with the ability and ambition to own a dealership a path to get there.
For communities that historically haven't had the same opportunities in our industry, I think of it as a hand up, not a handout.
This isn't complicated or political: Everyone deserves the opportunity to succeed in this business. And the more our dealerships reflect the people and communities they serve, the stronger our industry will be.