Women Driving Auto Retail Celebrates International Women’s Day

Published March 5, 2020

Author

Juliet Guerra

Senior Director, Media Relations

703.483.4471

(office)

214.208.0668

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jguerra@nada.org

This Sunday, March 8, marks International Women’s Day (IWD), a yearly celebration of the achievements of women, which has taken place since 1911.

Like women around the globe, women in the auto retail industry have much to celebrate. In July 2019, for example, Cheryl Miller was named CEO of AutoNation – joining the ranks of only 36 women CEOs running Fortune 500 companies, including Mary Barra of GM. We have seen more female advocates working in dealerships than ever before and their voices are loud and proud.

The 2019 Women Driving Auto Retail video contest showed us just how loud, proud and powerful these voices are. Additionally, the recently launched Women Driving Auto Retail initiative has hit the ground running with a number of successful events and programs that celebrate the women working in auto and truck dealerships across the country.

Earlier this year at NADA Show 2020 in Las Vegas, NADA hosted a brunch celebrating the strides women have made in the auto industry. In line with the theme of this year’s IWD – #EachforEqual, aimed at ensuring a gender equal world where bias is no longer part of the equation – Mindy McAlindon of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) spoke about the SeeHer initiative, a campaign to get rid of unconscious bias in advertising. For the auto retail industry, breaking unconscious bias is vital not only to attracting more women to the industry, but also to improving purchase intent and dealership brand equity among all consumers.

NADA is committed to empowering the voices of women not just on International Women’s Day, but every day of the year. The Women Driving Auto Retail initiative is just getting started in its mission to empower women already working in the industry and to attract more female employees. Stay tuned for future events and programming, including a webinar series to help dealers attract more women to the industry, by joining the Women Driving Auto Retail Facebook page!

And on Sunday, take some time to reflect on the achievements of all women. Happy International Women’s Day!