Sisters under hood, on the car sales floor
A FEMALE Gold Coast car dealership boss says the city automotive industry is more open to women than anywhere else in the country.
Kathleen Broadway, Gold Coast BMW’s dealer principal, should know - she’s been in the job 18 months and is the only female principal BMW has had in Australia.
The 33-year-old who started as a BMW intern in Melbourne 11 years ago, has also worked for leading car brands in the US.
“The Gold Coast is super progressive. You have the Frizelles and with Bec Frizelle at the head of it, the Gold Coast itself is more accepting of women in the industry. They have been very forward thinking compared to other places,” she said.
A snapshot of city firms reveals women aplenty: Von Bibra Helensvale sole female mechanic Kendra Coles, Porsche Centre Gold Coast senior sales consultant Catherine Pearcey, Surf Toyota financial controller Suzie Swain, Tweed Coast Nissan/Mazda service advisor Jewel Baydar.
Ms Frizelle, an automotive industry trailblazer, said despite more women now in the industry it was still “uncommon” to have female staff.
“We still need to see more women. Many women don’t realise it is a wonderful industry with so many career opportunities whether it’s HR, marketing, IT, finance. We have an in-house lawyer.”
Alfa Romeo dealer principal and AUDI Gold Coast general manager Tania Meli, who quit hairdressing 20 years ago for car sales, said it used to be male dominated.
“You used to walk into a showroom and there’d be 100 blokes, one woman. Now you walk in and it’s not just the hostess who is a woman, they are in sales, management.”
The Frizelle group has a ground-breaking exemption to the Anti-Discrimination Act so it can limit vacancy ads to women for certain jobs.
Ms Frizelle applied for it so the roster was more representative and because research showed 85 per cent of decision-making on car buys was made by women.
The Australian Automotive Dealer Association national convention starts in Broadbeach this morning.