At this year's Detroit Auto Show, JeffCars.com had an opportunity to connect with Damon Lester, president of the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers (NAMAD). Lester's organization represents every ethnic-owned new-vehicle dealership in America. This group consists of women, African A,ericans, Hispanics, Asians and American Indians.
Ethnic-Owned Dealerships
In 2009, at the height of the recession, there were 20,453 dealerships throughout America, 1,076 were NAMAD dealerships, representing 5 percent of new-vehicle dealerships. Conversely, in 2013, there were 15,800 dealerships, 1,074 were NAMAD dealerships, which represented only 6 percent of total dealerships.
Ideally, the U. S. dealer count should represent the demographics of America. According to the U. S. Census, minorities represent close to 30 percent of the population. In most cases, whether its pertaining to employment being provided by a major corporations, shaping the electorate or examining one's household budget, if we don't track things statistically we'll never know when things are out of balance.
