'Auto Trends' Kicks Off Black History Month With A Former Rainbow PUSH Automotive Activist: Where Do We Go From Here?

Change agent Glenda Gill (Photo Credit: GG)

Over the past week or so since Trump took office, he has been issuing out nonstop signed executive orders from The White House and Mar-a-Lago like a level 5 tornado tearing through an urban area during a busy workday.

As expected, there have been some immediate casualties, non-life threating injuries, uprooting, angst and mental frustration. Overall, as expected, there has been pure chaos and confusion.

Auto Rewind: How Toyota Really Became Number One with Minorities

While Toyota is thankful they aren't where they were 10 years ago - as it relates to some blunders they made with the African American community - they are definitely a case study on how an organization can learn from past lessons to become culturally-sensitive.

Since this debacle, Toyota has become the number one brand not only with African Americans, but with Latinos and Asians too. We posted an article last week related to which automakers are doing an admirable job based on new-vehicle sales of connecting with minority consumers. In case you missed it, click here.

Burger King who found themselves in hot water recently with an insensitive ad should have learned from Toyota's previous missteps. In case you've been underneath a rock,  click here to a get a recap on how Burger King found themselves being out-of-step with African Americans recently.

With that said, let's take a walk down memory lane to see where Toyota was just a little over 10 years ago and how far they've come a decade later.  Take a moment to check out this NPR interview from last year, which provides insight into how Toyota became a culturally-sensitive company. Besides Burger King, Toyota can be a case study for a number of automakers too who are looking to grow their sales without doing any type of segment marketing.