Cox Automotive joins network to improve gender balance in leadership roles

Martin Forbes, President of Cox Automotive International and Liam Quegan, managing director of Manheim Auction Services and NextGear Capital, have become the latest UK automotive leaders to join the Automotive 30% Club. The network of CEOs and MDs was created by founder Julia Muir in 2016, with the goal to improve the gender balance within the automotive industry, aiming for 30% of leadership roles to be filled by diverse women by 2030.

Martin Forbes said: “We are delighted to have become a patron of the Automotive 30% Club. Cox Automotive is committed to improving gender diversity within leadership roles, in what is still a male-dominated industry. We have taken steps to improve the opportunities given to women with our own Inclusion Diversity & Equity strategy.

“Our strategy is to nurture and establish a core value where we create and cultivate a sustainable culture of inclusion for all. We’re proud that we can make the investments in our workforce to bring the best out of them, with specialist training and development for those in leadership positions. This enables greater understanding in how to manage inclusively and encourage our workforce to thrive in their own abilities as well as in their work where they will one day become future leaders.”

Julia Muir, founder of the Automotive 30% Club said: “I am very pleased to welcome Martin Forbes CEO of Cox Automotive to the Automotive 30% Club as a Patron member, along with their 30 by 30 strategy leader Liam Quegan, MD of NextGear Capital. It is wonderful to have this connection with this forward-thinking company that already puts significant emphasis on gender balance through the Women with Drive initiative and the Barbara Cox Woman of the Year Award.”

Cox Automotive is the world’s largest automotive services organisation, helping vehicle manufacturers, fleets and dealer customers to meet their challenges in the era of digital transformation. Cox Automotive also connects the wholesale market at every stage of a vehicle’s life with physical and digital solutions.

The Automotive 30% Club is a voluntary network of MDs and CEOs from UK based automotive manufacturing, retailing and supplier companies. It’s powered by the social enterprise company, Gaia Innovation Ltd, of which Julia Muir is both CEO and founder of the network. The purpose of the network is improving the gender balance within the automotive industry, aiming for 30% of key leadership positions in member organisations to be with diverse women by 2030. By implementing a “30 by 30” strategy, the network seeks to achieve business transformation through people - understanding that gender balanced teams lead to better business success.