WomenWithWheels.com

Addressing the Changing Face of the American Car Buyer
GM’s Diversity Program

Susan Frissell
Women With Wheels

As the face of the American car buyer changes, automobile manufacturers are realizing they also need to change and gear their products toward the new face of the automotive buyer. So, too, as consumers admit to decrease their level of spending, how can the major manufacturers reposition themselves.

General Motors, in an effort to address this reality has, through the GM Center of Expertise conducted in-depth research, gathered firsthand experience and accumulated knowledge across a wide range of industries. In their efforts to better understand the cultural nuances that delineate these audiences, as well as unite them, the Center of Expertise has pulled together all of its available assets from such areas as Human Resources, Sales, Design, etc., and create programs to reach out to consumers.

For example, the Center recently designed a direct mail campaign to appeal to women and their families, promoting the availability of a DVD entertainment system in the GMC Envoy. The campaign was very successful, generating test drives, as well as sales for the brand. Incentive was a $50 Blockbuster DVD rental in exchange for a test drive so women could experience firsthand what the Envoy has to offer.

Another example is a television campaign for the Buick Rendevous developed for the Asian-American market. Conceived, developed and produced in Chinese to run on U.S. television.

GM has also partnered with national and local organizations in making automobile safety a top priority. They have donated child safety seats to needy families and taught kids the importance of buckling up. Applying some of these innovative concepts to their own employees has also been part of GM’s commitment and includes Flexible Scheduling, and the development of affinity groups, representing several ethnic, gender and lifestyle constituencies within General Motors.

The Center’s main mission though is to better understand the complexity and fragmentation of the consumer marketplace; to "understand the needs, wants and perceptions of vehicle buyers, as well as experts from a host of other industries."

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, SRC, Selig Center for Economic Growth and the 2000 Nielsen Universe Estimates, the changing face of the American Auto Buyer is looking like this:

In 2000, 31 percent of the population was non-white, with African-Americans controlling $572 million of the U.S. economy; an 85 percent increase in the past 11 years. From 1990 to 2001, the nation’s African-American population grew by 17 percent to 33 million, with their new vehicle buying representing 800,000 units in 2000. It is forecasted that African Americans will buy more than 1 million annual new cars by 2011.

In 2000, there were 12,8 million Asian-American, an increase of 75.3 percent since 1990. Sixty percent are under the age of 35, and 68 percent of the Asian-American car buying population is college educated, compared to 47 percent of the general market.

Hispanics control $383 billion in purchasing power, and by 2006, this population is expected to top 40 million, constituting about 14 percent of the overall population.

Consumer spending by women is the highest at $3.7 trillion per year, and they influence more than 80 percent of new vehicle purchase decisions. Women now purchase 44 percent of all new cars and trucks.

With an eye on the youth market, studies reveal that consumers under the age of 25 purchase over 1.3 million new vehicles per year, and influence 34 percent of their family’s new vehicle purchases. By the year 2010, 70-plus million people ages 16-25 will be driving.