Hispanic Buyers Key to Chrysler’s Growth

DETROIT – Hispanics account for 50 million people when it comes to the increasingly diverse ethnic melting pot in the U.S., yet they have a growing buying power sometimes neglected by auto makers, a top Chrysler executive says.

Chrysler de Mexico President Fred Diaz, of Mexican-American descent, understands the difficulty of marketing to Hispanics and says he has the final say on promotional materials geared toward that audience.

“We have to be disciplined and consistent with Hispanic marketing,” says Diaz, who also serves as president and CEO of Chrysler’s Ram truck brand. “If you do it wrong, the Hispanic culture will see right through it.”

As part of a wide-ranging ad campaign for the Ram 1500, Chrysler is launching a revamped promotion to lure more Hispanic buyers to the truck brand. Commercials in Spanish and English featuring everyday drivers and Latin-music-superstar Juanes debut this week in the U.S. and Mexico.

Within Chrysler’s range of products, Diaz says the Ram 1500 light-duty and 2500 heavy-duty pickups are the most-recognized and most-purchased models by Hispanic buyers. He estimates about 17% of Ram owners are Hispanic.

Ram’s effort to market to Hispanics isn’t new, as the brand has had Spanish-language ads in the past. But Chrysler as a whole increasingly is making its presence known to the community.

Chrysler Chief Marketing Officer Olivier Francois says Jeep and Dodge also are making inroads with Hispanic buyers through bilingual advertising.

As part of the Fiat brand’s re-introduction to America last year, the auto maker tapped actress-singer Jennifer Lopez as its spokeswoman. The relationship continues with Chrysler as one of the sponsors of Lopez’s current world tour with fellow Latin-American singer Enrique Iglesias.

“That was very experimental,” Francois says about Chrysler’s partnership with the Lopez-Iglesias tour. “We’ve been able to try stuff at all levels.”

Pitbull, a Cuban-American rapper known for his club hits and appeal among English- and Spanish-speaking listeners alike, also is a Fiat representative, creating a song for the brand being used in marketing for the 500 subcompact. Landing Juanes, a 17-time Latin Grammy winner, is a coup for the auto maker, Francois says.

But it takes more than the power of celebrity to win buyers, Diaz says. Competitors have struggled to connect with Hispanic buyers by dubbing English commercials in Spanish, which is no-no in the community.

“Culturally, I grew up in a Spanish/Latino environment in San Antonio,” he says. “It gives me a natural instinct as to what’s going on, and I can tell you what’s wrong (with marketing targeting Hispanics). I’m the final litmus test.”

Diaz says he goes over every Chrysler advertisement looking for possible conflicts or offenses. The wrong music, terminology or image can lose a potential buyer and tarnish the auto maker’s efforts.

Ram spokeswoman Marissa Hunter says that after Chrysler’s 2009 bankruptcy, targeted marketing took a hit. “When resources shrunk, it was one of the first portions of our market portfolio that began to suffer.”

Once the marketing budget was restored, the auto maker re-energized its relationships with Spanish-speaking media outlets such as Univision TV and began taking a greater role in the Latin Grammys, in which Dodge long has played a part, Hunter says.

“Our efforts in this space are very aggressive,” she says. “This particular audience buys a lot of pickup trucks.”

The next step is extending Hispanic-buyer awareness to the Chrysler brand, which currently markets more heavily toward African-Americans than any other of the auto maker’s brands, and also to familiarize them with Fiat.

“We’re in a better position to offer cars across the (product) lineup,” Hunter says.

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