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Article: Desperate in Detroit: Black dealerships retune their businesses as consumer demands change.(35 Annual Report on Black Business: B.E. 100s)(General Motors Corp.)(Toyota Motor Corp.)(Wade Ford Inc.)(Company rankings)
- Article from:
- Black Enterprise
- Article date:
- June 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Earl G. Graves Publishing Co., Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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FEW INDUSTRIES ARE AS HIGHLY COMPETITIVE as the automotive business. Changes in consumer demand have forced the three major American automakers to recalibrate their models. Meanwhile, Japanese automaker Toyota gained momentum and is now poised to supplant Ford from its long-held position as the No. 2 automaker in the U.S. To remain viable and competitive, black auto dealers--the majority of which sell Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler vehicles--either began wholesale fleet transactions or realigned their businesses to focus more on servicing and used car sales.
Among them is Steven Ewing, owner of Smyrna, Georgia-based Wade Ford Inc. (No. 8 on the BE AUTO DEALER ...