OREANDA-NEWS. General Motors announced today that Mark Rainey, 47, has been appointed Director, Dealer Development, effective immediately. He will be responsible for the growth of minority and female dealers within the U.S. Chevrolet, Buick-GMC and Cadillac dealer networks. 

Rainey, who will report to Eric Peterson, U.S. Vice President, Diversity Dealer Relations, joins GM after a 20-year career with Nissan North America Inc., where he led dealer development efforts. His successes at Nissan earned him the National Association of Minority Dealers’ (NAMAD) Diversity Advocacy Award. He has also served in a variety of regional sales and marketing assignments and as a dealership general manager.

“Mark will help us build on GM’s decades-long commitment to create a distribution network that reflects the incredible diversity of our customer base,” Peterson said.

In addition to advancing GM’s national diverse dealer strategy, Rainey will be the company’s liaison with internal and external advocacy groups, including the General Motors Minority Dealer Advisory Council, the Women Dealer Advisory Council, the General Motors Minority Automobile Dealers Association (GMMDA) and Rainbow PUSH.

Since 1972, GM has provided industry-leading training opportunities to qualified minorities to prepare them to become future dealers and help them succeed once they become dealers. GM was the first U.S. automaker to institute a structured minority dealer initiative. Today, GM has a network of 236 minority-owned dealerships in the U.S. that employ more than 15,500 people and generate approximately $13 billion in annual revenue.

General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM, TSX: GMM) and its partners produce vehicles in 30 countries, and the company has leadership positions in the world's largest and fastest-growing automotive markets. GM, its subsidiaries and joint venture entities sell vehicles under the Chevrolet, Cadillac, Baojun, Buick, GMC, Holden, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling brands.