DETROIT, Mich. — The Fourth Annual Diversity Volume Leadership Awards (DVL Awards) ceremony showed the tremendous impact that ethnic car buyers have on the economy and brought awareness to the lack of diversity that still remains present in the automotive industry.

With ethnic car buyers growing at rapid rates, the dealer body is still lacking accurate representation from minorities. “Some thirty percent of new vehicle purchases are made by multicultural consumers but only six percent of dealerships are minority owned,” said National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers (NAMAD) President Damon Lester. “That means 18,000 dealerships exist in the USA and just 1,100 are minority owned.”

Through the DVL Awards on January 13, 2019 at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel, ahead of the North American International Auto Show, NAMAD and IHS Markit have partnered to celebrate brands that are driving sales leadership with ethnic consumers, while also addressing and educating the industry about the necessity of a dealer body that reflects the United States’ increasingly diverse population. The Awards Ceremony was hosted by former Detroit area newscaster Lauren Sanders and brought together scores of top automotive industry executives.

Winners of the prestigious DVL Awards demonstrated the highest new vehicle registrations with ethnic, women, millennial and LGBT consumers. This year’s awards were based on an analysis of data from IHS Markit of more than 13 million personal new vehicle registrations for the 2018 model year (October 2017 through September 2018).

“The initial goal of the Diversity Volume Leadership Awards was to create awareness within the U.S. auto industry of the top vehicles purchased by ethnic consumers, women, LBGT consumers and ethnic millennials,” said Marc Bland, vice president of diversity and inclusion, IHS Markit.  “We’re honored to recognize these top models and their respective manufacturers in support of their efforts to reach the growing diverse consumer groups.  This leads to our current enhancement for the 2019 Awards — the addition of Luxury Growth Leaders by brands.”

From left to right: Damon Lester, President of the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers, Irving Matthews, Chairman of NAMAD, Henio Arcangeli Jr., Sr. Vice President Automobile Division, American Honda Motor Company, Marc Bland, Sr. VP Diversity and Inclusion, IHS Markit.

This year, NAMAD and IHS Markit honored American Honda with the “Top Overall Ethnic Vehicle” DVL Award, for the third year in a row. “Top Overall Ethnic Vehicle” is the most sought-after Diversity Volume Leadership honor for automotive brands dedicated to driving sales leadership with Asian, Native American, Hispanic and African American car buyers.

Introduced at the 2018 DVL Awards, NAMAD and IHS Markit continue to research, document and honor the buying power of the LGBT community, with Awards for Volume Leaders (Ford F-Series) and Luxury Volume (Lexus RX).

It should be noted that the Lexus RX swept every segment of the Luxury Volume Leaders awards category.

NAMAD and IHS Markit also presented awards for leadership in the following categories: Ethnic Volume Leaders by IHS Markit Regions, Volume Leaders – Millennials and Women, and Volume Leaders by Ethnic Consumer Group.

From left to right: Damon Lester, President of the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers, Irving Matthews, Chairman of NAMAD, Al Smith, Global Vice President and Chief Social Innovation Officer, Toyota Motor North America, Marc Bland, Sr. VP Diversity and Inclusion, IHS Markit

The best automotive brands that have dedicated marketing resources to ethnic consumers and are focused on capitalizing on the rapid growth of the industry were in attendance to collect their awards. Following are this year’s DVL Award winners:

• Toyota/Lexus-thirteen (13) DVL Awards
• Honda-six (6) DVL Awards
• Ford-five (5) DVL Awards
• FCA (Jeep)-four (4) DVL Awards
• BMW-three (3) DVL Awards
• GM (Chevy)-two (2) DVL Awards
• Volvo-two (2) DVL Awards
• Mercedes-Benz-one (1) DVL Award
• Harley-Davidson-one (1) DVL Award

David Christ, Group Vice President and General Manager of the Lexus Division and Steven Larkin, NNPA National Advertising Consultant & Corporate Partnerships share a moment recently at the Detroit International Automobile Show. The vehicle shown in the picture is the 2019 LC convertible concept, not an actual production vehicle.

It is important to note that several of the nominees that did not receive awards were still extremely competitive contenders. Those who did not receive an award now have the insight and motivation to develop an improved strategy for 2019 and beyond.

Winners of the 2019 Diversity Volume Leadership Awards are as follows:

SPONSORS

The Diversity Volume Leadership Awards would not be possible without the generous sponsorship from the following manufacturer and media organizations:

• IHS Markit
• American Honda
• BMW of North America
• Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
• Ford Motor Company
• General Motors
• Harley-Davidson
• Kia Motors America
• Nissan North America
• Toyota Motor Sales, USA
• Volkswagen Group of America
• Black Enterprise
• National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA)
• National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP)
• Real Times Media

About The National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers

The National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers’ (NAMAD) objective is to pursue the meaningful presence and participation of minority businesses and diverse employees across all aspects of the automotive economic sector, including:

• Increasing the number of minority-owned dealerships in communities across America
• Advocating workplace and supplier diversity in the automotive manufacturing environment
• Supporting minority engagement in the automotive retail sales and service sectors

We are committed to developing strategic relationships and advocating for the advancement of business policies and practices that ensure diversity and economic parity remain a priority in all aspects of the American automotive industry.

NAMAD is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, tax-exempt organization headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area. For information on the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers visit: www.namad.org

About IHS Markit (www.ihsmarkit.com)

IHS Markit (NASDAQ: INFO) is a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions for the major industries and markets that drive economies worldwide. The company delivers next-generation information, analytics and solutions to customers in business, finance and government, improving their operational efficiency and providing deep insights that lead to well-informed, confident decisions. IHS Markit has more than 50,000 business and government customers, including 80 percent of the Fortune Global 500 and the world’s leading financial institutions.  Headquartered in London, IHS Markit is committed to sustainable, profitable growth.

Automotive offerings and expertise at IHS Markit span every major market and the entire automotive value chain—from product planning to marketing, sales and the aftermarket.  For additional information, please visit www.ihsmarkit.com/automotive or email [email protected].