RML Automotive includes 16 premier automotive brands covering seven states in America's Heartland.
We have a team of strong and experienced individuals who are committed to satisfying our customers' needs. Browse our extensive new and pre-owned inventory, request more information, set up a test drive or inquire about financing.
Robert L. Johnson is the Founder and Chairman of The RLJ Companies, LLC, an innovative business network, and owns or holds interests in businesses operating in hotel real estate, private equity, 401k fintech services, automobile dealerships, content streaming, gaming and sports betting.
Prior to forming The RLJ Companies, Mr. Johnson was founder and chairman of Black Entertainment Television (BET), the nation's first Black-owned cable television network.
Johnson continues to attract and manage capital and create value for investors, and in 2012, announced the successful creation of RLJ Entertainment, Inc., a premium digital channel company serving distinct audiences primarily through its popular streaming services, Acorn TV (British TV) and UMC (Urban Movie Channel). RLJ Entertainment, Inc. marks the third time Johnson has successfully taken a company public. In 1991 Johnson took BET public, making the network the first African American company to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange. RLJ Lodging Trust, a hotel real estate investment trust (REIT), went public in 2011.
In 2001, Johnson sold BET to Viacom for approximately $3 billion. In July 2007, Johnson was named, by USA Today, one of "The 25 Most Influential Business Leaders of the Past 25 Years."
Two of Johnson's holding companies are ranked among the top Black-owned companies in the country on the Black Enterprise 100s list: RLJ-McLarty-Landers Automotive Holdings, LLC and RLJ Equity Partners, LLC.
Currently, Mr. Johnson serves on the following boards: RLJ Lodging Trust; KB Home; Elevate Credit, Inc.; The Business Council; and Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture. Mr. Johnson holds a master's degree in international affairs from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in social studies from the University of Illinois.
RML Automotive Vice Chairman Thomas F. "Mack" McLarty's roots in the automotive business reach back to 1921, when his grandfather opened a Ford dealership in Hope, Arkansas. Today, as McLarty and his sons, Mark and Franklin, each lead successful dealership enterprises, the McLarty family's automotive heritage is in its fourth generation.
McLarty joined the McLarty Companies in 1969 after graduating with honors from the University of Arkansas. Under his direction, the family's innovative leasing operation became one of the country's largest, even as their automotive dealerships expanded throughout the southern United States.
In 1979, the McLarty Companies bought the assets of one of the nation's largest school bus manufacturers, Ward Industries, and turned the struggling enterprise around. In this same era, the McLarty Companies merged McLarty Leasing with the New York Stock Exchange listed company Leaseway Transportation, and McLarty became an officer of Leaseway, responsible for the southern region. By 1998, the McLarty Companies was one of the top 50 dealer groups in the United States, with 19 automobile dealership franchises in Arkansas and Texas. The McLartys merged their business with Asbury Automotive Group of Pennsylvania, and McLarty became vice chair and a director on the Asbury board, helping successfully take that company public in 2002. In 2004, McLarty and Steve Landers founded McLarty Landers Automotive Group; later partnering with Robert L. Johnson as the enterprise expanded to create RML Automotive.