'Auto Trends' First State Of The Minority Car Dealer: Trump's 25% Tariffs, DEI, EVs And More (Two Shows)

Ethnic minority new cars dealers own 1,574 of today's 16,957 dealerships in the United States, according to the latest stats provided by National Automobile Dealer Association (NADA) and the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers (NAMAD). Thus, this number equates to 9 percent of today's new car dealerships being owned by ethnic minority dealers. 

Ironically, ethnic minority consumers drive 33 percent of today's new car sales, according to S&P Global Mobility's Marc Bland, a specialist in multicultural car sales. Out of the approximately 16 million new vehicles sold in the United States in 2024 through new car dealers, ethnic minority car buyers accounted for 5.3 million of those new vehicle sales.

'Auto Trends' Remembers Lexus First Black Female Car Dealer (1943 - 2024)

Car Dealer Ellenae Fairhurst (Photo Credit: TLMDA)

While It’s been widely reported that women influence over 85 percent of today’s car sales, still, this group only owns less than 1,100 out of the approximate 17,000 new-car dealerships in America. When we examine ethnic women, they own approximately 86 stores, according to the National Automobile Dealer Association and the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers.

And, as far as Black women, they barely register on the radar. This group represents less than a tenth of 1 percent of total new car dealerships.

Ironically, in a traditional African American household, Black women are responsible for 51 percent of last year’s new-vehicle registrations, slightly outpacing Black men.

'Auto Trends' Talks To A Mother-Daughter Team Who Hold The Keys To Two Of Mercedes-Benz Black-Owned Dealerships (Two Shows)

                                               Grene Baranco (l) and Juanita Baranco (r) (photo credit: G&J)

With less than 6 percent of today’s nearly 17,000 new-vehicle dealerships being minority-owned, its literally like finding a needle in a haystack to come across a mother-daughter dealership team. More specifically, a mother-daughter squad who have a financial stake (and hold key positions) in 2 out of 7 of Mercedes-Benz’s black-owned dealerships. The family owned stores are located in Atlanta, Georgia and Covington, Louisiana.

According to the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers (NAMAD), 95 percent of today’s minority owned dealerships are first-generation dealerships. However, when it comes to minority dealers, especially Black dealers, the numbers are grave. One means of creating general wealth is through owning dealerships. They are literally cash cows, if run properly. This prominent Atlanta family has made provisions to hand the keys off to one of their daughters, when the time becomes appropriate, as opposed to allowing the business to slip outside of their hands (into other communities).