No matter how much or how little a car buyer likes cars, buyers in unison can agree that the car buying experience is far from ideal. 

Hidden fees, shady sales tactics and upselling are expected upon a customer’s first step into the showroom of any brand’s dealership, but a new study suggests that it is not only the customers who might be in for a bad deal. 

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A survey of 1,000 employees conducted by Automotive News (AN) found that women employed by franchised car dealerships have been getting the short end of the stick when it comes to pay, career advancement and the working environment.

Automotive News found that for every dollar a man made in a franchised car dealership in 2023, women earned just 66 cents. In raw numbers, men’s salaries were at an average of $218,700 last year, compared to just $144,400 during the same period. 

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average American woman makes 83 cents of every dollar made by the average American man.

However, the jobs and roles within the dealership are different between men and women. They found that 34% of women surveyed are more likely to work in administrative roles such as an office manager, accounts receivable, variable operations, while four percent of men worked in the same department. 

Additionally, 56% of women in dealerships reported themselves as holding a technical or 2-year certificate or higher diploma, while 46% of men reported similar educational backgrounds. 

Despite this, the data shows that men in this industry are more likely to land the high-paying, bonus dependent sales and business development jobs, as 55% of their income came from commissions and bonuses, compared to just 30% for women.

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Additionally, work sentiment in this industry fares worse for women. Only 6.9% of men said that the auto retail industry is not a welcoming environment for women, while 29% of women agreed with the same statement. Only 53% of women working for dealers agreed that their jobs paid well, while 69% of men agreed. 

Employee engagement researcher and ESi-Q president Ted Kraybill noted that “too much testosterone in the culture” is a big driving factor of the unwelcoming work environment for women in auto retail. 

“It’s still an old boys’ club in many dealerships,” Kraybill told Automotive News.

A fixed operations manager at a rural Pennsylvania Honda dealer with 25 years in auto retail was quoted that “I have never been so disrespected and unappreciated in my life. I am man-splained to constantly by customers and coworkers.”

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