“In the last five or six years, we’ve put more women in key positions all over the dealership,” Dunning said.

Fifteen percent of Keeler’s 33-person sales staff is female. Most times, if a woman walks into the showroom and doesn’t know anyone, she gravitates toward a female salesperson, Dunning said.

It can also work in reverse.

“There are times when a man comes in and he prefers not to be helped by a woman because he’ll think she can’t possibly know anything about a car,” Dunning said.

It’s a situation with which she is all too familiar.

Dunning started selling cars in 1980, when few women were working in the business. While looking for a job, one dealer told her, “We don’t hire girls.” The dealer finally relented. A year later, Dunning was the company’s top salesperson.

Brown, from the Lia Group, took “a lot of abuse” from male co-workers when she started selling cars in Tampa, Florida, in 1998.

“You sell more, they get jealous,” Brown said. “Now, it’s no problem. They respect me.”

The West Albany, New York, native was living in Tampa and on her way back from a job interview for a management position with Wal-Mart when she stopped into a Chevrolet dealer advertising for sales help.

Brown’s biggest motivation was the 72 achievement plaques acquired by the dealer’s top seller—a woman.

“I thought, I want 72 plaques,” said Brown, 47. “After I started, she never got another one.”

Auto manufacturers also recognize the increasing muscle that women bring to the industry.

In 2004, an all-female team designed a concept car for Volvo aimed specifically for women. More recently, two women designed the interior and exterior of the 2010 BMW Z4, an extremely popular car among males.

Such inroads show signs that the industry is moving away from long-ingrained, gender-biased attitudes.

“It was male-dominated for so long,” said Bill Lia Jr., co-president of Lia Auto Group. Lia Auto operates seven franchises representing 17 Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Volkswagen, Scion, and Infiniti stores.

About 20 percent of the dealership’s 780-person workforce and 10 percent of its 135-person sales staff are female.

“We always try to keep as diverse as possible—especially on the sales floor. Different people relate to different things,” Lia said.

Money is also a motivating factor—prolific sellers make six-figure salaries. Even in this recession, seasoned salespeople can make more than $100,000, both Brown and Dunning said.

“Women have a tremendous opportunity to set their own compensation. One thing I love, it’s equal opportunity. There’s no glass ceiling,” said Annette Sykora, who is among the 5 percent of women who own U.S. dealerships. Sykora owns two Ford dealerships near Lubbock, Texas, and was chairwoman of the National Automobile Dealers Association in 2008.

There are two areas where women falter, said Sykora: “They can tend to lose their focus by trying to take care of everyone, or they let others influence their self-confidence.”

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Pam Allen writes for The Business Review, of Albany.