• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, September 20, 2005

According to a new study by The Media Audit Hispanics are growing in importance to the automobile market and the after-market. Bob Jordan, president of International Demographics, Inc, says that “Hispanics make up 15.5 percent of all adults in The Media Audit markets surveyed, but they make up 18.1 percent of all those who plan to buy a vehicle in the coming year. “ Of the 137.5 million adults represented in the survey, 21.3 million are Hispanic adults. 

 Highlights of the survey include:

• Of the 26.1 million adults who plan to buy a vehicle during the coming year, 18.1 percent, or 4.7 million, are Hispanic
• Of the 26.1 million, 11.4 million plan to buy a new vehicle; of that total 16.7 percent, or 1.9 million, are Hispanic
• While 30.9 percent of all adults shopped at an auto parts store in the 30 days prior to the survey, 32.7 percent of all Hispanic adults did the same
• While 29.5 percent of all adults surveyed have car loans, just 27.3 percent of all Hispanic adults have car loans.
• 55.9 percent f the adult Hispanics expect to be better off financially in six months, while only 41.1 percent of the Caucasian community share that optimism
• Of the 13.7 million adults in the metro markets surveyed who plan to buy a domestic vehicle, 19.5 percent or 2.7 million are Hispanic adults
• Of the 8.6 million adults who plan on buying a foreign vehicle, 17.1 percent, or 1.5 million, are Hispanic adults
• Among the 4.8 million adults who plan to spend $30,000 or more on their next vehicle, 17.4 percent, or 830,000, are Hispanic adults

“The Hispanic community is an enormous part of our economy,” says Jordan, “and for some industries – automobile in particular – its value far exceeds its numbers.”