The best Automotive jobs can pay up to $192,500 per year.
The automotive industry includes many jobs for those interested in cars, from car salespeople to mechanics to automobile designers and engineers. Mechanics can complete more complicated tasks like replacing engines or alternators, while technicians help complete easier maintenance tasks. Diesel mechanics, who may repair a servicing truck or bus with a diesel engine, are in high demand and have higher salaries than regular mechanics. Artistic people may also find lucrative careers designing new cars. This job always has a high demand, as an innovated individual is needed to come up with ideas.
Good jobs are hard to find in the automotive industry. However, most of them don’t involve formal education. Many begin working in the field as a technician, who handles tasks like changing oil, balancing tires, replacing air filters, and other maintenance tasks, before moving up to a mechanic position. You could also begin by working in an assembly line focused on making cars to gain experience. This career involves computer and some robotics skill. Electrical engineers, the most valuable type of automotive career, move the industry toward hybrid vehicles and discover new ways to power public transportation. Programs for any of these may be available at vocational schools, but an engineer needs an engineering degree.
“A WELL-MAINTAINED CAR IS A REFLECTION OF ITS OWNER’S COMMITMENT TO SAFETY AND RELIABILITY.”
Dealership General Manager
Salary range: $51,500-$192,500 per yearDealership general managers (GMs) oversee the operations of all the various departments within the dealership. The most common type of dealership is an automotive dealership, but other examples include those that sell RVs, boats or other outdoor vehicles, and large equipment. As a dealership general manager, you set sales goals for the sales team, create and manage the company budget, and approve contracts made in the financing department. You manage inventory, oversee vehicle acquisitions operations, and develop strategies to increase sales and profits at the dealership. General managers also hire and train new employees and establish employee compensation and benefits.
Heavy Equipment Sales Manager
Salary range: $71,000-$155,500 per yearAs a heavy equipment sales manager, your duties include overseeing sales representatives in your region or territory, providing excellent customer service to clients, and generating leads in the construction industry and agriculture sector for your sales representatives. If you work in manufacturing, your goal is to improve customer relationships with heavy equipment dealers and retailers and get them to purchase products wholesale from you and your sales team. If you work as a sales manager at a heavy equipment dealer, your responsibilities include driving sales goals and policies for the sales team and collaborating closely with the marketing department and upper management.
Automotive Service Director
Salary range: $92,000-$150,000 per yearAn automotive service director leads the service department at a car dealership or vehicle parts store. While the service director may help determine the mechanical needs of a vehicle, main duties often include managing employees, creating goals for the team, and ensuring efficient operations to help get the customer in and out of the shop quickly. The automotive service director may also control operating expenses and help manages inventory and accounts receivable. People in this career typically gain skills and experience as a service technician. Automotive service manager is a similar job title.
Transmission Rebuilder
Salary range: $55,000-$146,500 per yearA transmission rebuilder is a specialized mechanic who handles the maintenance and repair of vehicle transmissions. As a transmission rebuilder, you typically operate in a body shop and work with standard mechanic tools to service cars. Your responsibilities are to diagnose vehicle transmission issues, rebuild transmissions to manufacturer specifications, and ensure these systems work efficiently and effectively. You handle gears, clutches, and other parts to assist with the recreation of the transmission, as well as properly remove and reinstall transmissions. Other duties involve maintaining the cleanliness of your area and tools.
Automotive General Sales Manager
Salary range: $100,500-$142,000 per yearThe responsibilities of an automotive general sales manager are to lead the sales team or department at a car dealership. Their duties include assessing team performance, developing estimates for future vehicle sales, setting clear goals for the department, and collaborating with other departments, such as marketing. An automotive general sales manager may have additional duties, such as hiring and training new team members, approving budgets, and helping negotiate with each customer.
Used Car Manager
Salary range: $81,000-$138,500 per yearThe job duties of a used car manager include managing the used car department of an auto dealership. Your responsibilities usually include managing automotive inventory, marketing, sales, and deciding the price of each vehicle. You work on purchasing quality used cars for your dealership’s inventory and negotiating with retail and wholesale buyers. While overseeing the auto sales, you may liaise with members of the financial services industry to help facilitate financing and loans for your customers. In this position, you are ultimately responsible for setting and achieving sales goals.
Chassis Engineer
Salary range: $80,000-$133,000 per yearA chassis engineer’s responsibilities are to design, analyze, and test structural systems, steering, brakes, hydraulics, and suspensions in vehicles. In this career, you are responsible for assisting with the architectural design of the chassis system. You are also responsible for conducting investigations and drive failure analysis on found problems. You monitor and analyze data from various tests you administer on different components of the vehicle to ensure proper function. Additional duties are to create technical reports from data and analysis, manage costs, mentor junior engineers, and communicate with the chassis group and affiliates to investigate found issues.
Automotive Sales Manager
Salary range: $62,000-$132,500 per yearAn Automotive Sales Manager is responsible for supervising and motivating salespeople and promoting and encouraging strategies to sell cars and other vehicles. They perform typical manager duties, such as organizing schedules, training, interviewing, hiring, and setting goals. Their customer service skills must be excellent, and they are able to easily talk to anyone. Some Automotive Sales Managers sell cars themselves, but most are focused on creating the strategies, budgets, and promotions that empower their teams to sell cars.
Dimensional Engineer
Salary range: $76,000-$110,000 per yearA dimensional engineer works in manufacturing fields, particularly the automotive industry, and helps to design new or updated production processes through the analysis of data. As a dimensional engineer, your primary responsibilities include designing components for the assembly process to increase productivity and safety. Your daily duties may involve analyzing data, identifying problems in the manufacturing process, and documenting case studies. You may also perform statistical reporting and use simulation tools for planning.
Powertrain Engineer
Salary range: $85,500-$102,500 per yearA powertrain engineer works in the automotive industry to design transportation, such as cars, motorbikes, or commercial vehicles. In this career, you focus on the aesthetics and technical performance of powertrain components as well as the electronics and software used in modern vehicles. Your job duties include calculating project budgets and timescales, building prototypes and conducting tests, interpreting data, finding high-quality materials to use, and conducting research on parts. You are also responsible for answering client questions and complying with their needs. Qualifications for this career include an engineering degree and experience with design.
Body Man
Salary range: $60,000-$100,000 per yearA body man is an aide for political candidates or high-level politicians, addressing daily needs and ensuring security. As this type of personal aide, your responsibilities range from scheduling travel, meals, and lodging to providing snacks and other necessities. A body man may also be required to screen attendees at events and accompany the person to formal and informal engagements. Qualifications for body man roles do not follow any standard. However, past political experience, exceptional communication skills, and attention to detail are helpful in this career.
Fleet Maintenance Manager
Salary range: $63,500-$100,000 per yearAs a fleet maintenance manager, you are in charge of maximizing efficiency and profitability by managing the maintenance of the vehicles used by your company. You may be asked to research and select vehicles for lease or purchase, keep excellent records on vehicle use and maintenance, track logs of driver routes, and resell unwanted vehicles that no longer meet company needs. Your responsibilities as a fleet maintenance manager include all fleet maintenance logistics, ensuring minimized costs and maximize profits, by monitoring everything from vehicle wear to fuel costs.
Automotive Parts Manager
Salary range: $51,500-$95,000 per yearAn automotive parts manager oversees all aspects of business in an auto-parts store, dealership, or auto service store. They must have a strong working knowledge of automobiles, parts, and repairs, but also have solid business skills. They are in charge of ensuring there is sufficient inventory to meet demand at all times. They develop relationships with vendors to ensure the best prices on parts. Automotive parts managers also oversee the staff, scheduling, and hiring processes.
Automotive General Manager
Salary range: $60,000-$94,500 per yearAutomotive general managers work at car dealerships and oversee various departments to ensure the profitability of the dealership. In this role, you oversee the sales department, service and parts, and accounting and finance. Your responsibilities include motivating employees, planning events and promotions, and ensuring customer satisfaction. You also typically hire employees for upper-level positions like sales and service managers, plan goals for the dealership, oversee daily operations from an elevated perspective, and coordinate with staff members on record retention and financial analysis. Other duties include relationship building with both employees and customers. As an automotive general manager, you also adhere to the policies and procedures set out by the company, while making sure all employees do the same.
Diesel Engineer
Salary range: $68,000-$94,000 per yearThe duties of a diesel engineer or mechanic are to inspect, maintain, and repair diesel engines. They perform diagnostics on engines and inspect the parts and system machinery to determine what service is required on the vehicle. A diesel engineer regularly utilizes diagnostic equipment and other tools, and they should have an in-depth knowledge of the diesel electrical system. Customer service skills are also important when describing a repair to a customer.
Collision Center Manager
Salary range: $42,500-$85,500 per yearAs a collision center manager, you lead and manage an automotive accident repair center, ensuring sales, financial, and customer satisfaction goals are achieved. Your responsibilities include examining cars in the auto body shop that have been in an accident and estimating the cost of parts and labor to fix each vehicle. You plan daily collision repair schedules to ensure efficient workflow, assign work, supervise the parts department, estimate repair time, and meet customer deadlines. You are also expected to identify and solve quality issues and repair delays quickly. Other duties include inspecting repairs to verify that standard operating procedures are followed and that you meet strict quality standards before delivering vehicles to customers. You may also manage the annual budget and hold team meetings to ensure staff members understand top priorities.
Bdc Manager
Salary range: $48,000-$85,500 per yearA BDC manager oversees the business development center (BDC) at an automotive dealership. The BDC department is responsible for setting appointments with potential buyers to meet with the sales representatives at the dealership. Staff members, known as development business representatives (DBR) or business development representatives (BDR), make these calls. As the BDC manager, your duties include hiring and training these representatives, setting quotas and appointment goals, driving sales, and tracking results.
Automotive Shop Foreman
Salary range: $50,500-$83,500 per yearAs an automotive shop foreman, your duties are to supervise daily operations at an automotive shop. This means that you hire and train new staff, oversee maintenance services, and help the owner or general manager order parts and maintain the appropriate stock of inventory. In addition to your managerial responsibilities, you often make repairs on cars, trucks, or pieces of heavy equipment. You can find automotive shop foreman jobs in a variety of places, including maintenance facilities at schools, tractor-trailer depots, and farming facilities. Your exact duties can vary based on the location in which you work.
Automotive Diagnostic Technician
Salary range: $60,500-$81,500 per yearAn Automotive Diagnostic Technician uses their knowledge, background, and qualifications regarding automobiles and relevant technologies to diagnose, repair, and maintain vehicles that run on gasoline, diesel fuels or electrical power. An Automotive Diagnostic Technician conducts testing on vehicles that might include using special diagnostic equipment that reads an auto’s internal computer chip or taking the car for a test drive. This professional usually has a job in an independent automotive garage, car dealer service department, or has a repair department for delivery vehicles, buses, or other public service vehicles. They might also perform responsibilities as part of a race car team or in shops that provide specialized services like oil changes.
Automotive Service Manager
Salary range: $56,000-$81,000 per yearAutomotive Service Managers work within a dealership’s Service department to repair cars. They are the ones who are responsible for the business duties and administrative tasks, and oversee staff hiring, training, and firing. Automotive Service Managers also oversee the mechanics and the parts departments and ensure that vehicles are fixed to the customers’ satisfaction. When something goes wrong with a repair or service, they are usually tasked with interacting with customers to come up with a fair resolution. Some Automotive Service Managers may be responsible for the shop’s financial, marketing, and business goals. Automotive Service Managers should possess great customer service skills, as well as demonstrated knowledge of the auto industry and vehicles.
Master Mechanic
Salary range: $56,500-$81,000 per yearThe master mechanic is a highly advanced mechanic at an auto repair shop or dealership. While a master mechanic is not necessarily a higher ranking employee as compared to a mechanic, your qualifications may grant you seniority. As a master mechanic, your responsibilities revolve around fixing engine and frame failures in customer’s cars. Your day-to-day job duties involve diagnosing issues, assessing vehicle damage, and executing repairs. You may also be responsible for performing basic maintenance, but you may delegate these procedures to less advanced employees. Master mechanics must be knowledgeable in technology, engine repair, collision repair, and other areas. As a master mechanic, you may work for yourself, an automobile dealer, or a larger auto repair shop.
Auto Inspector
Salary range: $35,000-$80,000 per yearAn automotive or auto inspector conducts inspections of new cars to ensure that they meet emissions and safety standards coming off of a production line. Some inspectors focus on investigating the vehicles involved in accidents to rule out suspect claims. The responsibilities of these inspectors include interviewing witnesses and communicating findings with insurance companies. An auto inspector also compiles a detailed list of damage to each vehicle and the estimated costs of automotive repairs. Qualifications to become an auto inspector include a high school diploma and certification or licensure in your state. Most employers prefer candidates with work experience or training as a mechanic.
Transmission Specialist
Salary range: $80,000-$80,000 per yearAs a transmission specialist, you service and repair transmission systems. In this role, you may examine the mechanics of installed systems, provide training to new specialists, and otherwise ensure all automotive transmission systems function properly after you finish repairing them. Fulfilling the duties and responsibilities of this job requires physical stamina, the ability to disassemble and reassemble varying transmission systems correctly, and the ability to read and follow repair manuals. Transmission specialists are also known as transmission mechanics, and companies may advertise this job under either name. Some transmission specialists work with specific types of vehicles like buses or trucks.
Automotive Manager
Salary range: $45,500-$78,500 per yearAutomotive manager refers to several possible positions in the automotive sales industry. The title generally refers to either general managers or department managers at a dealership. In either of these roles, your duties are focused mainly on hiring and developing your teams, creating sales targets, assessing financial and budgetary concerns, and providing leadership for sales representatives and other workers on the lot. Typically, a department manager reports to the general manager. All managerial positions require strong organization and leadership skills, good financial acumen, and in-depth knowledge of the automotive industry.
Auto Body Estimator
Salary range: $50,000-$77,000 per yearThe job of an auto body estimator is to evaluate the cost of collision repair service for each car brought to a shop. They may check the vehicle owner’s insurance, collect information on the price of parts, determine what repairs are necessary, and handle special requests. An auto body estimator frequently works directly with customers, uses electronic pricing and scheduling systems, helps develop repair plans, and reviews guidelines from insurance companies and vehicle manufacturers. Their responsibilities are to make repair decisions and coordinate the timing of work to ensure car repairs are completed as quickly as possible.
