Commentary
Ford Beats GM in Attracting Hispanics to Internet Car Shopping
- by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, May 4, 2003
In February 2003, more than 1.2 million Hispanics - fully ten percent of the online Hispanic population - visited at least one automotive manufacturer Web site. Among these, Ford Motor Company attracted 355,000 unique visitors and General Motors drew 353,000 unique visitors.
These results are in sharp contrast to the Total U.S. population, in which General Motors led with 5.7 million unique visitors and Ford held the number two ranking, with 4.2 million visitors. "Hispanic consumers represent one of the fastest growing and important market groups in the U.S." explained Chuck Sullivan, manager of e-Marketing at the Ford Division of Ford Motor Company, "comScore's accurate insight into online Hispanic consumer behavior helps validate the importance of Ford Motor Company's investment in this increasingly important market."
Unique Visitors to Automotive Manufacturer Web Sites Total U.S. -
Home, Work and University Locations February 2003 Hispanic
Internet Users Unique Visitors (000) All Internet Users Unique Visitors (000) Total Internet 12,301 144,884 Automotive Manufacturers 1,229 15,964
Ford Motor Company 355 4,246 General Motors 353 5,667 Daimler Chrysler 255 3,193 Honda 186 2,170 Toyota.com 155 1,134 Nissan 73 965 BMW 68 967 Volkswagen 61 691 Yamaha-Motor.com 47 na Harley-Davidson.com na 502 Hyundai Motors Inc. 46 453
Source: comScore Media
Metrix
The comScore analysis revealed even stronger variations in manufacturer rankings among Hispanics who prefer to speak Spanish at home. Among the 2.6 million active Internet users in this segment, Ford led with 89,000 unique visitors, DaimlerChrysler earned the number two ranking with 68,000 visitors and General Motors drew 62,000 visitors.
"The automotive industry has long known that the Internet is a critical element in the buying process for the majority of new car shoppers," noted Richard L. Israel, comScore Networks vice president of Hispanic Marketing Solutions. "comScore data reveal major differences in automotive site usage between the Hispanic and general markets. These findings further underscore the importance of delivering fresh, compelling content that's tailored to the fast-growing online Hispanic community."
The comScore data also revealed that in February 2003, 3.7 million U.S. Hispanic Internet users visited third party online automotive resources. With 849,000 unique visitors, AOL Proprietary Automotive content held the number one ranking in this site segment. Autobytel earned the number two rank with 815,000 visitors, and was the growth leader among major third party resources with an 85 percent increase in traffic since October 2002, shortly before the site expanded its Spanish-language AutoEspañol research area.
* U.S. resident Hispanics are based on individuals' self-reported definition, adhering to procedures established by the U.S. Census Bureau.
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Jack Loechner is the Editor of The Center for Media Research's daily Research Brief. You can reach him at jack@mediapost.com.