AUTOS

Dealing With Minorities: When the National Assn. of Minority Automobile Dealers met recently in Washington, representatives of four Southland auto companies were there to listen to their concerns.

Cypress-based Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America sent two dealer development managers to explain the company’s 3-month-old Market Investment Program under which Mitsubishi provides up to 85% of the money needed to start a new dealership.

In Southern California, where land costs are among the highest in the nation, that can easily hit $1 million, dealers say. Mitsubishi becomes a partner in the dealership, but provides an opportunity for the dealer to buy out its share over a five-year period.

So far, only one dealer--not a minority--has been accepted into the program. A Southern California dealership is next on the list, and Mitsubishi wants a minority dealer for it, said Joseph Zeuli, dealer development manager. Of the company’s 512 dealers, 18 are minorities.

Other companies with representatives at the minority dealer session were Irvine-based Mazda Motor America Inc., and Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. and Honda North America Inc., both based in Torrance.

Mazda said 19 of the company’s 900 dealers are minorities, including five who started this year.

The company, which has had a minority recruitment consultant for three years, expects to add three minority-owned dealerships by Jan. 1, for a total of 22.

Toyota’s 1,191 dealers in the United States include 42 minorities. The company’s Lexus division has 172 dealers, of whom three are minorities.

At Honda, the 1,300 Honda and Acura dealers in the United States include 55 minorities.