In an industry that is dominated by males, Rita Case is an anomaly.
She is one of the few female dealers to have followed a mother into the business and also to have seen a daughter join.
Rita is vice chairman of Rick Case Automotive Group, which ranks No. 26 on the Automotive News list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S. as ranked by 2014 new-vehicle retail sales.
She and her husband, Rick Case, operate 16 dealerships in Florida, Georgia and Ohio.
"My mom and dad were partners, like Rick and I," said Rita Case, 60, whose parents sold Honda motorcycles almost a decade before opening their Honda new-car dealership in Santa Rosa, Calif., in 1970. "She worked full time in the business like I've always done."
Most new-car dealers are men, so sons and grandsons following in the footsteps of fathers and grandfathers in the retail auto industry is a given. Mothers and daughters in the business are harder to find, but they're there. And as more daughters step up, those numbers are likely to increase.
Case's mother, Lori Manly, 82, is CFO of Manly Auto Group in Santa Rosa and is still active in the family business along with Case's brother, Brian Manly, who is dealer principal.