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GM CEO Recognizes Value of African-American Market
DALLAS -- The impact and influence of African-American businesses is growing in the United States and around the world, the chairman and chief executive officer of General Motors Corp., Rick Wagoner, said yesterday in a speech here before the ninth annual Black Enterprise/General Motors Entrepreneurs Conference. "For GM to win in the global auto business, we need a diverse workforce -- one that brings together a wide range of talents, ideas, experiences, and perspectives," Wagoner said. "We need business partners who represent the full range of diversity that we work with every day." Wagoner spoke of the value of entrepreneurs to GM and the business community in an increasingly diverse world. He recognized that the growth and expansion of black entrepreneurs, including GM suppliers and dealers, increases buying power in African-American communities and enhances GM's success as a company. GM buys more than $7.2 billion in goods and services from minority-owned firms each year, Waggoner reported. These include 268 African-American suppliers, some of whom produce significant components and sub-systems in popular GM vehicles, such as the Cadillac XLR, SRX and Escalade. GM's 131 African-American dealers produced more than $3.4 billion in sales and employed more than 5,100 people in 2002, according to the company, he said. Since 1995, the number of black-owned GM dealerships has increased by 31%. As a group, African-Americans represent more than $572 billion in buying power, according to demographic studies. Recognizing the immense power of the African-American market, as well as its influence on popular culture, GM doubled its spending to reach black consumers in 2003, the company reports. GM's advertising and marketing purchases from black-owned media increased 100% from 2001 to 2003. African-Americans bought more than 800,000 new vehicles in 2000, and are projected to buy more than 1 million new vehicles annually by 2011. General Motors, the world's largest vehicle manufacturer, employs about 325,000 people globally. In 2003, GM sold nearly 8.6 million cars and trucks, about 15% of the global vehicle market. Visit General Motors Corp. at www.gm.com. "