• by Tanya Gazdik , Staff Writer, June 21, 2016

Hispanic American consumers account for $27.9 billion in registered new vehicle transactions, representing 11% of the total market, and annually, the Hispanic population in the United States grows by about one million people.  

That’s according to Viant, a Time Inc. technology company, which commissioned Millward Brown Digital to survey 1,027 respondents for its 2016 Hispanic American Auto Buyers Report.

The survey was available in both English and Spanish and invited respondents to self-identify their ethnicity. In total, 511 respondents identified as Hispanic (completing the survey roughly equally in English and Spanish), and 516 were non-Hispanics. All differences highlighted in these results are statistically significant to a confidence level of at least 90%. 

The report includes some interesting auto-related consumer behavior findings. With luxury segment purchasing growth among Hispanic Americans rising 16% from 2013 to 2015, automakers have more reason than ever to reach this growing audience.

Brands that had the largest share of the total registrations among Hispanic Americans were Nissan (17%), Mitsubishi (16%), Toyota (14%), Fiat (14%) and Dodge (13%).

Historically, car brands like Toyota, Ford, Chevy, Nissan and Honda have marketed very strategically to Hispanic American car buyers, and their efforts have consistently yielded double and triple year over year sales growth. 

In recent years, however, Hispanic Americans have developed an appetite for luxury car brands like Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, Audi and BMW. In fact, luxury segment purchasing growth among Hispanic Americans has risen 16% from 2013 to 2015. Compare that to just 5% growth among non-Hispanics over the same period of time.

One brilliant Hispanic-focused campaign that comes to mind is Dodge’s “Te Pondrá A Prueba”/”It’ll Test You,” which was recognized by MediaPost this year as the best transcultural campaign in its Marketing:Automotive awards. The beauty of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles ads is that non-Hispanics will also find it intriguing — the mark of good advertising. 

Lopez Negrete Communications, perhaps playing on the idea that the visit to the dealership is about as anxiety-producing as double-crossing a cartel, crafted a Spanish-language campaign that everyone will relate to, and will go out of their way to translate, even as they go out of their way to avoid the antagonist: The spots feature Danny Trejo from “Breaking Bad.” 

Back to the study, 36% of Hispanic American auto shoppers surveyed found that in-app mobile ads were persuasive to them. Hispanic Americans over-index slightly when it comes to mobile usage, but nearly double for those actively shopping for vehicles. 

Responsiveness to video ads followed a similar trend. Among self-identified Hispanic auto shoppers polled in our survey, 22% found that video ads were most likely to persuade them to make a purchase. Among non-Hispanics auto shoppers, only 8% found that they were most likely to be persuaded by video. These findings signify that after seeing a video ad, Hispanics are nearly 3x as likely to consider a brand when making a purchase than non-Hispanics.

Hispanics and non-Hispanics were polled on social sharing behaviors, and uncovered one of the largest consumer differences. When asked if they had discussed a brand online with others or used a brand’s hashtag in social messaging, nearly 50% of Hispanic auto shoppers answered “yes” to both. Among non-Hispanics, 20% said “yes” to discussing a brand online with others, and only 15% answered “yes” to using a brand’s hashtag in their social messaging. 

By owning mobile, video and social – all very different mediums and formats in their own right – automotive marketers will be successful in reaching Hispanic American car buyers in the digital space, according to the report.