INFO Ihs Markit Ltd.

DETROIT, Jan. 15, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Third 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.

"Some 30% of new vehicle purchases are made by multicultural consumers but only 6% 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."

With ethnic car buyers growing at rapid rates, the dealer body is still lacking accurate representation from minorities. NAMAD and IHS Markit partnered to celebrate brands that are driving sales leadership with ethnic consumers, while also addressing and educating the industry about the necessity of dealer ownership increasing to reflect a diverse population during the DVL Awards on January 14, 2018 at Cobo Center ahead of the North American International Auto Show. The private awards ceremony was hosted by Dariany Santana and brought together scores of top automotive industry executives.

Winners of the prestigious DVL Awards demonstrated the highest new vehicle registrations with ethnic, women, and millennial consumers. This year's awards were based on an analysis of more than 13 million personal new vehicle registrations from IHS Markit for the 2017 model year.

"The initial goal of the Diversity Volume Leadership Awards was to create awareness within the U.S auto industry of the top vehicle purchased by ethnic consumers, women 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 enhancements for 2018, which include the addition of top LGBT and ethnic motorcycle categories."

This year, NAMAD and IHS Markit honored American Honda with the "Top Overall Ethnic Vehicle" DVL Award, for the second 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.  

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.

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. Overall, GM and its brands received eleven (11) DVL Awards, Honda-six (6) DVL Awards, Toyota/Lexus-nine (9) DVL Awards, Ford-two (2) DVL Awards, Mercedes-Benz-one (1) DVL Award, and Harley-Davidson one (1) DVL Award. 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 2018 and beyond.

Winners of the 2018 Diversity Volume Leadership Awards are as follows:

Connect with DVL Awards:
Hashtag: #DVLawards and #DVLawards2018
Website: www.namad.org 
Twitter: twitter.com/NAMAD_USA 
Facebook: facebook.com/NAMAD_USA-468806139894019

SPONSORS

The Diversity Volume Leadership Awards would not be possible without the generous sponsorship from the following organizations:
American Honda
Black Enterprise
BMW of North America
Ford Motor Company
General Motors
Harley Davidson
IHS Markit
Kia Motors America
Mercedes-Benz, LLC
Nissan North America
NNPA
NAHP
Real Times Media
Toyota Motor Sales
Volkswagen Group of America

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 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 key business and government customers, including 85 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 automotive@ihsmarkit.com.

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SOURCE National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers (NAMAD)