The Nationwide Affiliation of Minority Car Sellers has a brand new chief.

Hugene Fields, an business outsider who has labored within the nonprofit area for 15 years, was named president throughout the group’s conference in Miami final month.

Fields, 35, takes the reins from Damon Lester, who had been on the helm since 2006. Lester, who joined NAMAD in 2002 as its vice chairman of operations, grew to become a seller himself in 2021 when he purchased Nissan of Bowie in Maryland.

Lester grew to become president not lengthy earlier than the economic system faltered and precipitated the variety of minority-owned shops to plummet. Minorities owned 1,805 dealerships in 2005, in response to NAMAD information, however the Nice Recession took maintain quickly after and despatched this tally spiraling to 875 by 2011.

After that robust stretch, the numbers have been on an upward swing. The business noticed the most important acquire final 12 months in minority-owned dealerships since 2012, including 109 rooftops to carry the entire to 1,366.

Lester is now the group’s vice chairman. He was chosen as certainly one of Automotive Information’ Notable Champions of Variety in October.

“I feel the business as an entire has gotten higher with understanding why variety issues,” Lester informed Automotive Information in September. “We’re positively nowhere close to the place we needs to be. We’re nowhere close to near parity. We’re nonetheless about 6 p.c illustration inside the minority seller physique, but 30 p.c of all new automobiles and vans are bought by an ethnic minority.

“So the aim of parity remains to be but to be achieved. General, the business is beginning to put extra effort and emphasis on it, notably over the previous three to 5 years, than it has in fairly a while.”