Toyota products, like this Camry, dominate in the African-American automotive market.
Toyota is the overwhelming brand of choice among African-American car buyers, according to a new study by Polk, a Detroit firm that tracks motor vehicle registrations.
But domestic makers are by no means out of the picture. Ford ranks second among African-American motorists, according to the report, with Chevrolet rounding out the Top 3. And the resurgent Buick posted a more than 70% jump in demand among this key buying group. Korean brands are also making big gains.
Scoring with the African-American community is critical, analysts say, considering the group generated 7.4% of all new vehicle registrations in 2010, sales of 641,090 up 11.5% over the year before, (that growth rate well ahead of gains in other ethnic communities).
“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 Polk product strategist Marc Bland. “Those companies that are ahead of the curve, like Toyota, are already reaping the rewards.”
Toyota accounted for an even 15% of the African-American market last year, well ahead of Ford, at 11.7%, and Chevrolet, at 11.4%.
But Toyota may be losing momentum. It wasn’t even among the top 15 African-American market growth leaders, in 2010, according to Polk.
At the head of that list was Buick, which has emerged as one of the biggest U.S. automotive success stories overall over the last two years – even outselling American luxury market leader Lexus during the first two months of 2011. Buick sales rose 72.2% among African Americans for all of last year.
Second on the growth list was Hyundai, which saw sales to African-Americans rise 53.2%. Its sibling Korean brand, Kia, was third, with a 34.6% sales increase.
Among the top 15 growth brands, notably, only five were Japanese: Nissan’s luxury brand Infiniti at the lead, with a sales increase of 30.9%, followed by Subaru, Acura, Nissan and Mazda. Five were domestic, the rest European, led by Audi with a 27.1% increase in registrations for 2010.
U.S. Census Bureau forecasts anticipate the African-American population will grow 12% by 2020 and 25% by 2030.
“If manufacturers do not establish themselves with these critical ethnic audiences now, significant growth opportunities with these influential and critical groups will be missed,” Polk officials noted.