'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.

Women's History Month: How Two Black-Women Are Driving Two Of Mercedes-Benz Black-Owned Dealerships

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). 

SiriusXM’s ‘Auto Trends’ Talks One-On-One with a Minority Owner of the Milwaukee Bucks NBA Team (Two Shows)

Dr. Valerie Daniels-Carter, a minority owner of the Milwaukee Bucks (photo credit: V&J)

While the NBA enters its 17th week of the season, where players buckle down to secure playoff spots, Auto Trends with JeffCars.com, a multicultural syndicated automotive radio program, intends to keep the ball rolling.

In honor of Black History Month, Jeff Fortson, who is the host, talks to a choir director, franchise maven and minority NBA owner of the Milwaukee Bucks Dr. Valerie Daniels-Carter. During the two-part conversation, the gifted motivational speaker talks about her journey from growing up in Milwaukee to why she selected a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) to how she became one of America’s most prominent Black business owners. Like most high-achieving entrepreneurs, her road map has been filled with risks, successes, and a game-winning business playbook.

Sister CEO: The Only Black Female Co-Founder Of A Tier One Auto Supplier Talks To 'Auto Trends'

Lisa Lunsford, the CEO and co-founder of the Detroit-based auto manufacturer, Global Strategic Supply Solutions, talks to Auto Trends with JeffCars.com.

Lunsford is one of two Black women in the manufacturing industry who heads a Tier One company, suppling parts to build cars directly to a major automaker.

 

However, what distinguishes this proud trailblazing HBCU graduate, is that she is the co-founder of a company that supplies parts directly to a key automaker, helping them build their cars. The HBCU graduate has been widening the road on a lane that normally hasn’t been traveled by women, more specifically Black woman. Over the years because of the success of her company, she’s been cited as one of the top women-owned businesses in Michigan, as well as being noted in Black Enterprise magazine top 100 businesses.

 

SiriusXM 'Auto Trends' Talks Two A Two Time Cancer Survivor With A Broken Marriage Became A Pioneering LatinX Female Auto Dealer

Entrepreneur and Cancer Survivor Marion Luna Bream (photo credit: MLB)

Trailblazer Marion Luna Brem joins Auto Trends with JeffCars.com to share how she took control of her life after a series of unexpectd events literally through a wrench in her plans, causing her to lose her self esteem. Brem, who has authored two motivational books, found herself breaking barriers in a field that has not been welcoming to women, more specifically women of color. She is one of a few Hispanic women who has managed to shatter the dealership ceiling -- becoming an automobile dealer. In fact, she owns two dealerships in South Texas and has been one of a handful of women to be recognized by the Automotive Hall of Fame, the highest honor one can receive in the car industry.