For Eddie Corley Jr., selling cars is about people — and family pride

It’s all about family when it comes to the Corleys.

And what a family.

Eddie Corley Jr., who grew up in Grants, was one of eight kids whose mom and dad wanted each and every one to accomplish what they had achieved: owning a car dealership.

Their dream came true, although only two of the offspring are still owners — including Eddie, who has been the top guy at Corley’s Albuquerque Lincoln Volvo Inc. since 2013.

The tradition started with Ed Corley Sr., one of 16 kids who moved to Grants from East Texas to work in the uranium mines. The mines weren’t hiring African-Americans, though, so Corley Sr. became an entrepreneur and proceeded to put his many kids to work.

“My mom and dad owned two service stations, a ladies’ clothing store, a fast food restaurant, a grocery store, and we all had responsibilities in each,” Corley says. “So we all grew up working for them.”

Corley’s first official job after college was at a bank. He envisioned a career in the world of finance because he believed people had a bad impression of car salesmen. But then he had a long talk with his dad, who recruited him to join the family dealership in Grants.

“And that’s where my car life started,” says Corley, who also went on to start a political life that included two terms as a state representative, more than a decade as a village of Milan trustee and a current dream to run for governor.

But the car career didn’t come naturally at first: “I went into the business, and I couldn’t sell a car for 30 days, because I was trying to be a salesman. When I took off the salesman smile and just became Eddie Corley, I built trust with my customers, and that developed pretty quickly into business. People don’t buy cars from people they don’t like.”

As for the next generation, Corley has four daughters, and while they are all currently focused on tennis (the oldest two are professional players), they also have or are working on business degrees.

“My wife and I would like to give them an opportunity to be a part of the family business,” he says. “But that’s going to take time.”

What did your dad tell you that persuaded you to join the family business?

I had heard those stereotypes about car salesmen, you know, but my dad said, “Eddie, you can make it whatever you want it to be.” He also said, “It’s as easy to make money on top of the table as people think it is to do it under the table.”

What part of the business do you enjoy the most?

It’s kind of changed over the years, but my most favorite part was to sell cars. My passion is people. But I became more effective when I started managing from 15,000 feet, which is all aspects of the business — which is my circle of influence, which is my management team. Working with them and watching them grow helps me to get my overall goal achieved, which is being profitable and selling cars. And I have an excellent management team.

What’s been a difficult time in your career, and how did you deal with it?

The crash in 2008 was a difficult time. And what made it so difficult is that we were building a new facility. And maybe a year or two, right after that, we represented Lincoln and Mercury. Mercury went away, closed down. So financially, it was tough. We didn’t scale back tremendously, but it was hard for anyone to see success at that time, because there were so many things going wrong. And I had to lift my head up every day and be positive. I had to be that beacon of hope for everyone that worked here.

Were you faking it, or did you really feel that way?

Oh, yeah, I felt that way. I knew that we could make it, even if I had to go down all the way to sell cars myself, because there’s not a thing in the dealership that I can’t do.

You sell Volvos, which is now owned by a Chinese group. Are you worried about the trade tariffs?

My outlook has always been one of being an optimist. I don’t know, maybe I was born with this, but I know that I saw my mom and my dad plow through adversity. If there’s a hard time (due to) the tariffs, I can’t control that. But if someone walks in my door, I can control how I greet them and how I take care of them. Because you know, when tariffs happen, everyone’s affected. But what can I do for you as my customer? That’s what I focus on.

Tell me something you’re proud of.

I created the office of African-American Affairs (while serving in the Legislature). Because I felt like New Mexico, where we have maybe 3% or less of the population is African American, but we were not represented. We were invisible. We (lawmakers) did laws and discussed things that would impact this group, that group, but we just were not ever in the conversation. And I’m proud because I represented the whole community. It wasn’t just about which race I was; it was about the community. It’s easy to get caught up in serving self-interest … (but) I had so much support that I didn’t feel like I had to pander to anyone. I could vote my own conscience.

What’s something few people know about you?

I was at one time really into horsemanship. I was a team roper.

What do you drive?

The vehicle that I currently drive is a 2025 Lincoln Navigator. That’s the finest car I’ve ever driven. You know, you sell cars as long as I have, it’s hard to get excited anymore. You ever heard of the new car smell? Well, I’m immune to it. That’s just an occupational hazard, I guess.