Orchestrators of the second annual Diversity Volume Leadership Awards (DVL Awards) ceremony highlighted what they said is the tremendous impact that minority vehicle buyers have on the economy and brought awareness to what consider to be the lack of diversity that still remains present in the automotive industry.

National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers (NAMAD) Damon Lester said, “Some 30 percent of new-vehicle purchases are made by multicultural consumers, but only 6 percent of dealerships are minority-owned.

“That means 18,000 dealerships exist in the USA and just 1,100 are minority-owned,” Lester contained.

With ethnic vehicle 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 Jan. 8 at Cobo Center in Detroit. The private awards ceremony was hosted by Kellie Aponte and brought together scores of top automotive industry executives.

Winners of the 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.

“The Diversity Volume Leadership Awards were designed to educate the entire auto industry including manufacturers, dealers, suppliers and automotive media,” said Marc Bland, vice president of diversity and inclusion at IHS Markit.

This year, NAMAD and IHS Markit honored American Honda with the Top Overall Ethnic Vehicle DVL Award. The 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 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, General Motors and its brands received five DVL Awards while both Honda and Toyota collected seven DVL Awards.

Both Ford and Nissan garnered three DVL Awards and Fiat Chrysler was given one DVL Award.

Winners of the 2017 Diversity Volume Leadership Awards are as follows:

Ethnic Volume Leaders by IHS Markit Regions

Great Lakes Region: Chevrolet Malibu

Mideast Region: Honda Accord

New England Region: Toyota RAV4

Plains Region: Ford F-Series

Rocky Mountain Region: Ford F-Series

Southeast Region: Toyota Corolla

Southwest Region: Ford F-Series

Western Region: Honda Civic

Volume Leaders — Millennials and Women

Top Women's Vehicle: Honda CR-V

Top Women's Luxury Vehicle: Lexus RX

Top Ethnic Millennial Vehicle: Honda Civic

Volume Leaders by Consumer Group

Top Vehicle African-American: Nissan Altima

Top Vehicle Hispanic American: Toyota Corolla

Top Vehicle Asian-Pacific Islander: Honda Accord

Top Vehicle Native American: Chevrolet Silverado

Top Luxury Vehicle African American: Buick Encore

Top Luxury Vehicle Hispanic: Lexus IS

Top Luxury Vehicle Asian-Pacific Islander: Lexus RX

Top Luxury Vehicle Native American: Buick Verano

African American Volume Growth Leader: Nissan Rogue

Hispanic Volume Growth Leader: Nissan Rogue

Asian-Pacific Islander Volume Growth Leader: Lexus NX

Native American Volume Growth Leader: Chevrolet Colorado

Women Volume Growth Leader: Honda HR-V

Millennial Volume Growth Leader: Jeep Renegade

Top Overall Ethnic Vehicle (Luxury or Non-Luxury): Honda Accord