On April 14th, Hispanic 411 presented its latest Auto webinar “The Road to Your Growth: Why U.S. Hispanics are a Must-Win Target” with Automotive News’ powerTRAINING. In partnership with GfK Automotive, this webinar took a deep dive into the U.S Hispanic Auto consumer and shared actionable insights into how Auto marketers can capitalize on the game-changing influence of Hispanics. With my fellow partner Jeff Campana, SVP for GfK Auto, we analyzed the current Auto marketplace, proprietary research on the U.S. Hispanic purchase funnel and case studies from marketers engaging and winning with this core consumer. Below are a few of the highlights:
Hispanics continue to drive new vehicle sales growth
The industry has seen staggering Hispanic sales growth in the last year—new vehicle sales growth doubled that of Total Market in CY 2014 (+15% vs. +6%) across nearly all segments including Luxury (+17% CY 2014.) It all boils down to one important fact: Hispanic new vehicle sales growth are forecast to grow at a rate three times faster than Total Market over the next 10 years (+133% vs. +55%.) (1)
Hispanics are in the right stage, at the right time
Growth at this scale is not surprising when we look at the demos of the Hispanic consumer. With a younger average age, larger households and a growing disposable income fueling their buying behaviors—Hispanics are 4x more likely to be first time vehicle buyers and 18% more likely to be adding to their fleets. This is a consumer not simply replacing vehicles but buying incrementally for their growing families. (2)
Ripe opportunity to grow brand attributes and engage with U.S. Hispanics
The GfK Upper Funnel brand tracker, measuring automotive brand perceptions, revealed that Hispanics have a lower brand awareness of vehicle brands overall. As we moved down the funnel, measuring the dynamics of brand performance at the retail level through intentions and shopping patterns, loyalty measured lower among Hispanics. This represents prime opportunities for brands to grow awareness and engagement with consistent and culturally relevant messaging.
It all starts with Spanish
One of the keys to engaging U.S. Hispanic Auto consumers in a culturally relevant manner—speaking the language they love. The Lower Funnel Auto tracker revealed that the demand for Spanish Language content from auto brands has grown in the last year—from wanting social media content (+62%) to Spanish-language shopping websites (+57%.) There’s a huge appetite to speak and consume content in Spanish. ¿Hablas Español?
For more insights and thought leadership on the Hispanic Auto consumer, be sure to follow @Hispanic411.
Sources: (1) IHS Automotive Driven by Polk, New Vehicle Registrations (Personal Retail includes Leases) Enhanced Ethnic Data , CY14 vs. CY13 ,U.S. (2) GfK Hispanic Lower Funnel Auto Tracker Q4 2014
