Hispanics Driven to Auto Sites

The U.S. Hispanic online population is muy grande, according to figures from comScore. In January 2003, the U.S. Hispanic online population — which comprises approximately one third of the total U.S. Hispanic population — was measured at 11 percent larger than the total online population of Spain, and 4 percent larger than the total online population of Mexico, Argentina and Colombia combined.

Active Internet Users Among
Major Spanish-Speaking Populations
Home, Work and University Locations,
January 2003
  Unique Users
Total U.S. Hispanic 12,394,000
Spain 11,146,000
Mexico 7,169,000
Argentina 3,216,000
Colombia 1,576,000
Source: comScore Media Metrix

Further analysis of this powerful demographic reveals that more than 1.2 million Hispanics — fully 10 percent of the online Hispanic population — visited at least one automotive manufacturer Web site in February 2003, with Ford Motor Company absorbing most of the traffic.

Unique Visitors to Automotive Manufacturer
Web Sites Total U.S. –
Home, Work and University Locations,
February 2003
Hispanic Internet Users All Internet Users
  Unique
Visitors
  Unique
Visitors
Total Internet 12,301,000 Total Internet 144,884,000
Automotive Manufacturers 1,229,000 Automotive Manufacturers 15,964,000
Ford Motor Company 355,000 General Motors 5,667,000
General Motors 353,000 Ford Motor Company 4,246,000
Daimler Chrysler 255,000 Daimler Chrysler 3,193,000
Honda 186,000 Honda 2,170,000
Toyota.com 155,000 Toyota.com 1,134,000
Nissan 73,000 BMW 967,000
BMW 68,000 Nissan 965,000
Volkswagen 61,000 Volkswagen 691,000
Yamaha-Motor.com 47,000 Harley-Davidson.com 502,000
Hyundai Motors Inc. 46,000 Hyundai Motors Inc. 453,000
Source: comScore Media Metrix

Ford was also the most popular auto site among Hispanics who prefer to speak Spanish at home, which comScore estimates at 21 percent of the total U.S. Hispanic population. According to the data, more than one-quarter (27 percent) speak English and Spanish equally, and the majority (51 percent) preferred speaking English at home.

Unique Visitors to Automotive
Manufacturer Web Sites,
Hispanic Internet Users –
Spanish-preferred

Total U.S. – Home, Work and
University Locations, February 2003

  Unique
Visitors
Total Internet 2,564,000
Automotive Manufacturers 272,000
Ford Motor Company 89,000
Daimler Chrysler 68,000
General Motors 62,000
Source: comScore Media Metrix


“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.

The proliferation of auto ads is evidenced by findings from Nielsen//NetRatings that places General Motors Corporation among the top online advertisers for the week ending March 30, 2003. The auto company’s 692 unique creative banners and buttons was ranked eighth on a list of ten, with Amazon.com, AOL Time Warner, and Microsoft grabbing the top three spots.

The comScore data also revealed that in February 2003, 3.7 million U.S. Hispanic Internet users visited third party online automotive resources, and Nielsen//NetRatings tracked the total U.S. Internet traffic to the top ten.

Traffic to Auto-Related Sites,
(U.S., At-Home) Week ending
March 23, 2003
Rank By
Unique
Audience
Last
Week’s
Rank
Brand or Channel Unique
Audience
1 1 eBay Motors 2,453,000
2 3 Kelley Blue Book 690,000
3 7 AOL Auto 479,000
4 4 AutoTrader.com 471,000
5 2 MSN Autos 396,000
6 9 Autoweb.Com 344,000
7 5 Yahoo! Autos 301,000
8 8 Edmunds.com 284,000
9 N/A Cars.com 270,000
10 6 Cartopia.com 236,000
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings

Deeper analysis by comScore revealed that 60 percent of the Hispanic online population is 34 years of age or younger — compared to 50 percent for the total online population — and 39 percent of U.S. Hispanic online households contain five or more persons, as opposed to 18 percent for all online households.

Furthermore, only 2 percent of U.S. Hispanic surfers were in single-member households, versus 10 percent for the total online population. U.S. Hispanic online users tend to have a lower household income than general U.S. users, but compared to the total U.S. Hispanic population, Hispanic Internet users tend to live in higher income households.

Percent Composition of Hispanic
Population by Household Income,
January 2003
Household
Income
Total U.S.
Hispanic
Population
Total U.S.
Hispanic
Internet
Population
$0-14,999 14% 9%
$15,000-23,999 16% 11%
$25,000-39,999 22% 22%
$40,000-59,999 20% 26%
$60,000-74,999 10% 13%
$75,000+ 17% 21%
Source: comScore Media Metrix, U.S. Census Bureau

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