R.L. Polk: Toyota top brand considered among African-Americans
#1
05-01-2011, 02:40 PM
R.L. Polk: Toyota top brand considered among African-Americans
African-Americans purchased 641,090 new vehicles in 2010, accounting for 7.4 percent of all new vehicle sales. That's a significant portion of overall sales, and a population segment that Toyota appears to be winning over.R.L. Polk released a study showing that Toyota accounted for 15 percent of all new car sales to African-American car buyers last year. Ford came in second at 11.7 percent, followed by Chevrolet, Honda and Nissan. The top five automakers accounted for nearly 60 percent off all new vehicle sales to African-Americans.
The U.S. Census Bureau predicts that the African-American population will grow by 25 percent by the year 2030. In 2010 alone, auto sales among African Americans rose by 11.5 percent versus 2009. That's 68.6 percent faster than the non-ethnic market increase of 6.8 percent, meaning that automakers would do well to reach out to this burgeoning customer segment.
"With the U.S. population growing faster in the African-American segment than others, there's a significant opportunity for automotive manufacturers and dealers to begin to align marketing initiatives toward this specific audience," said Marc Bland, product strategist at Polk. "Those companies that are ahead of the curve, like Toyota, are already reaping the rewards."
While it appears that Toyota has already gotten the message that African-Americans represent a fast-growing market segment, others are beginning to get the picture. Buick sales, for example, are up 72 percent, while Hyundai and Kia area second and third at 53 percent and 34.2 percent, respectively.On the other end of the spectrum, R.L. Polk says that Acura, Land Rover, Mercedes and BMW are not making inroads with African-American buyers. Hit the jump to read over the R.L. Polk press release.
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Last edited by Jazz; 05-01-2011 at 06:26 PM.
