After 34 years of serving as the President of the New Car Dealers Association of San Diego (NCDA), Dean Mansfield is retiring. The “Dean of Dealers,” as he was called in a San Diego Union-Tribune article announcing his appointment, leaves behind a lasting legacy of accomplishments and excellence.
For years, the NCDA staff has been trying to get Dean to agree to be featured in the San Diego Dealer magazine. First, when Dean reached the 20-year mark, Dean declined. The same thing happened at the 25-year mark. Once again, Dean refused and, in his own words, humbly stated, “I will not be featured until after I’m gone. What I’ve done at the association has never been about me; it’s always been about our dealers.”
Dean began his career in 1978 at the Montana Automobile Dealers Association. As a native of the Big Sky state, Dean was happy serving dealers in his home state and had no plans for change. “I grew up in Montana, I went to high school and college there and all of my family lives there,” Dean said. But then, a unique opportunity presented itself. One of Dean’s friends and colleagues from Orange County passed Dean’s name along to Doug Fuller. NCDA had been without a leader for three or four months and needed to hire a replacement. Dean went to San Diego and interviewed for the position. “I came here, and they offered me the job before I left town,” Dean recalled. “It was a good move for me.”
When Dean first came to San Diego, the NCDA offices were located in a little two-room office in Mission Valley; there were two employees, and Dean made three. Purchasing a new, more accommodating building was a priority. After searching for months and months, the decision was made to purchase the 25,000-square-foot building where NCDA is still located today. The building has six large meeting rooms that are available to all the dealer members. “We’ve always got someone meeting here in the building,” said Dean. He has also overseen two remodels of the building.
Looking back over the years spent at NCDA, Dean learned that “Association management is crisis management. There’s always something happening in this industry — whether it’s legislative issues, manufacturer issues or image issues — there are a lot of different things that you have to do. And it’s not always easy to get everybody on the same page.” He continued, “When I first came here, the association was somewhere around $60,000 in debt. And five years later, we paid the $1.5 million for our new building.”
“San Diego dealers have always been a really good group that works together. They don’t feud; they are, however, fiercely competitive,” Dean said with a smile. “I think the association has helped foster the comradery with all it is involved in.” At one point, Dean suggested to the NCDA board to decrease the number of meetings they held. The board said, “No, we want to meet, and we want it to be monthly.” From Dean’s perspective, it’s very unique that an association board will meet monthly, “It’s just almost unheard of. But they love doing it, and that’s been fine with me.”
At one point, one of the NCDA dealer members made Dean aware that the association and its dealers had an image problem. Dean and the NCDA board of directors pitched in and got to work to create what became known as the Image 95 campaign. Over a relatively short period of time, a great working relationship was developed with the local media. “It’s a major accomplishment. I don’t take full credit for this, but from the association point standpoint, we have a very unique partnership with the media.”
One of the things that Dean brought to the association was the California Sales Training Academy (CSTA). This four-day class is a detailed beginner’s course in the basics of selling and delves into elevating the profession by ensuring that those who attend learn about products and are taught the basics of ethical behavior and excellent customer service. “We started that 32 years ago. We trained salespeople for dealerships, and some of the people who have been through the class are now general managers at dealerships,” said Dean. Dealer members pay a minimal fee for this training and can send anyone — they are Academy Partners. The classes are free to the public.
Representing the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, Supervisor Joel Anderson visited the NCDA to deliver a Proclamation plaque to Dean Mansfield commemorating his many years of service and achievements, as well as declaring October 31, 2023, “Dean Mansfield Day” throughout San Diego County.
The media is a great partner in the CSTA class as well. They help by running PSAs about the class to the community and bringing in new people; then the association assists attendees in finding a job with an Academy Partner. “We’ve trained thousands of people to be salespeople and dealers. It’s a program that we set up, and it took us a long time to get it done. It has been in operation — even through COVID. We did all the classes online instead of in person. Our classes are back to in-person again in the training room here at our offices,” Dean stated.
In 2015 Dean served as chairman of the Automotive Trade Association Executives (ATAE), an organization that represents the executives of more than 100 state and metropolitan franchised new car dealer associations in the U.S. and Canada. His term as chairman commenced during a markedly tumultuous time in ATAE history, both in terms of OEM relationships and state franchise laws. He led a working group of ATAEs and Alliance members (OEM GR types) in a strategic initiatives project that yielded real fruit, including a framework for a shared “early warning system” on state franchise law and other dealer issues. ATAE still refers to it today on certain issues.
Another accomplishment that can be attributed to Dean’s leadership is the success of the San Diego International Auto Show. “The show was going before I came here and held in a very small civic center downtown. We were able to move it to a new convention center, which helped us greatly,” Dean stated. “Then, around 2006, we brought the entire production of the show in-house. The dealers and the manufacturers all came together and united the association even more.” The San Diego Auto Show grew to become the second-largest auto show in California and the highest-attended consumer show at the San Diego Convention Center.
Dean’s strong, steady leadership style has brought the association up to where it is today. After 45 years in this industry, Dean looks forward to what retirement will bring. As Scott Webb starts his new position as the new president of the NCDA, Dean says, “He’ll do a great job. I recommended him for the job. He’s been one of the best employees we’ve ever had. He’s dedicated — he’s the first one here in the morning and is the last one to leave.” Of note, Scott is the fourth of Dean’s employees who later took over leadership of a dealer association. Over the years, associations in Long Beach, San Jose and Philadelphia have also benefited from leadership mentored by Dean.
Thank you for your years of service, Dean. Happy retirement!
