Lovering Auto CEO Vanessa Delegas on how to create a gender inclusive dealership culture

Dealers across the U.S. have struggled to bring females into the auto industry for many reasons. One of the biggest obstacles for women entering the industry is the lack of work-life balance. In light of this, an auto group in New Hampshire is doing things a little outside of the norm, all in the name of company culture.

Not only are they a woman-run group in a male-dominated industry, but they began closing their dealerships on Sundays to help improve the work-life balance of their employees. So what has been the reaction? Today, we’re pleased to be joined by Vanessa Delegas, President and CEO of Lovering Auto Group, to talk more about dealership culture.

In this segment, Delegas and anchor Jim Fitzpatrick tackle the following:

• Talk to us about your family’s history in the automotive industry.
• Tell us about your No-Sunday policy and why it was started.
• The policy has been at Lovering Auto Group for a little while now, how has it impacted the organization? 
• Before the pandemic started, your group operated with no general managers..talk to us about the reason behind that. 
• From your perspective, what are the best practices for hiring employees from diverse backgrounds?
• Have you had to adopt any new practices through the pandemic? 
• What percentage of Lovering Auto Group’s employees are women?
• Talk to us about the importance of Lovering Auto Group being a woman-run organization?
• From your perspective, what does the auto industry need to do to attract and retain more women and more dealer principles?
• What’s next for Lovering Auto Group? Expansion?
• As we look beyond 2020, is there anything that concerns about the automotive industry as a whole