Summary
Marketers believe we will not pay the high price for one, because they haven't done the research to determine that African-Americans are environmentally conscious. When Detroit leaves a vacuum like this, offshore competitors jump in to take advantage of the market opportunity. Ford, Toyota and Lexus target their hybrid vehicles to African-Americans and Hispanics.
On the bright side, there is one leader in place who can make the aggressive changes needed to bring true parity to marketing in the auto industry: Bob Lutz. Like Henry Ford, Lutz is a man who recognizes the value of inclusiveness. In 1993, while leading Chrysler, Lutz set the industry's first diversity oriented goal to do 5 percent of contracting with minority companies.Now responsible for marketing at GM, Lutz recently put together a marketing team that includes GM's African-American design chief Ed Welburn. Welburn understands how to make GM cars and trucks more appealing. He and Lutz recognize more needs to be done to reach all consumers.Over the years the African-American community has witnessed legions of corporate image and public relations campaigns by auto companies. According to statistics compiled by R.L. Polk and Company, new vehicle purchases by people of color represent 22 percent of annual sales.See the full content of this document
Extract
What Should Detroit Do Next?
Over the years the African-American community has witnessed legions of corporate image and public relations campaigns by auto companies. But was it all just lip service? After all, de...
See the full content of this document
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