Diversity awareness is nothing new for General Motors. The automaker realized in the 1970s that to be successful it needed to relate to and recognize the diversity of its dealerships and its customers.

"We've had our minority dealer program since the late 1970s," said Ronte Smith, Southeast Regional sales manager with the company's Atlanta office. "Now we have more than 400 minority dealers across the country."

GM has five minority dealers in metro Atlanta - Lou Sobh in Duluth, Greg Baranco in Lilburn, The Hodge Group in Morrow, Greg Cole in Athens and Burnell Guyton in Smyrna. "All of these dealers have done well and expanded beyond single-dealership locations. This growth comes from being able to relate to all our customers." Today the company has identified four diverse market segments - African -American, Asian, Hispanic and female - and is continually adjusting its product lines and the way it does business to reach these specific groups.

"Our management team matches the diversity of our customer base, " he said. "In Detroit, we've created diversity units for each market segment that interface with each of our regions. We work to make sure each dealership is aware of the diversity in the area and that they try to match the employee mix. We also recognize the buying patterns of each segment."

For instance, Smith said that buying a vehicle for Hispanics is a family decision. For African - Americans, style and making a statement with their automobile can often drive a sale. The company's Asian customers have done their homework and want to know exactly what the features of the car will provide them.

" When we listened to what females wanted, we added vanity mirrors on the driver's side of the car and rearranged the front seating area to provide storage room for women's purses in the middle, " Smith said. "We also made our vehicles easier to load and unload."

In addition to listening to customers' needs on the sales side, GM is committed to supporting diverse markets with its community relations programs. The company donates several billion dollars to a variety of events across the country, from Carnival in Miami to the Trumpet Awards in Atlanta.

GM takes pride in being involved in the communities where we do business, " Smith said. "We listen to our customers and want to support the events that they support."For more information, visit our website: www.gm.com.

Ronte Smith, Regional Sales Manager of General Motors, shows off the current hot cars. The Chevrolet SSR (holding), Pontiac GTO-yellow, Black Buick Rendevous, Cadillac Deville-green, Silver Cadillac XLR-convertible, and the H2SUT Hummer-green. Photo by Leita Cowart ©2004