GM launches program to Recruit Bilingual Sales Consultants in Washington DC-Area Dealerships.

General Motors Corp. launched its Bilingual Employment Sales Training (B.E.S.T.) program in Washington D.C. to help area dealers hire 50 to 100 bilingual sales consultants. Through the GM B.E.S.T. program, GM and its dealers will better serve the 500,000 Hispanics – nearly 10 percent of the total population — living in the Washington area. A similar recruitment and training program was piloted in Philadelphia in late 2004 and rolled out in the New York and Chicago areas last year.

“Through GM B.E.S.T., our dealers will create more jobs in Washington’s Hispanic community while better serving Hispanic consumers by giving them more sales consultants who speak Spanish and understand the culture,’’ said Felipe Herrera, GM director of Diversity Sales and Marketing. He announced the program during a press conference at the Washington Auto Show. “We hope to improve the car-buying experience for our Hispanic customers by giving them the assistance they need to better understand all the details of this major purchase.”

In the 19 months since kicking off the GM B.E.S.T. pilot program, GM helped its dealers hire 126 sales consultants in Philadelphia, Chicago and New York. The sales associates in the program in these three cities have sold 2,269 vehicles to date.

“The Hispanic market, which has grown more than 100 percent in Washington D.C. since 1990, is expected to continue growing in the coming years,” Herrera said. “GM and its dealers have a great opportunity to grow with it, but we also have a responsibility to provide job opportunities so that the Hispanic community can prosper with us.” He continued: “We’re proud that the program has enabled GM dealers to provide Latinos with careers. In some cases, participants have been able to succeed beyond their own expectations and even buy homes for the first time in their lives.”