New research finds Black shoppers have different dealership experience

Accelerate Auto commissions study to understand the Black consumer vehicle buying experience and how Black Canadians feel about careers in automotive.

TORONTO, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - Accelerate Auto, a not-for-profit focused on increasing representation of Black talent across Canada's automotive industry, today released the findings of new third-party research aimed at better understanding what Black Canadians experience when they visit dealerships to shop for vehicles, and whether barriers exist that discourage them from working in the industry.

The study from independent research firm RKI surveyed a diverse sample of 1,116 Canadian consumers.

The survey revealed that when it comes to decision making factors influencing buying a new or used car, there are very few differences between White, Black and Other (non-Black) minorities.

However, their experience when entering a dealership is much different, and these experiences influence decision making around not only whether or not to do business with a dealership, but in pursuing an automotive career overall.

More than three quarters, 76% of Black Canadians, (and 82% of non-Black minorities) report having had a negative experience at a dealership vs. 64% for White consumers.

"This survey reveals Black Canadians and other minorities feel they are treated differently at dealerships, and they have developed strategies to combat the biases they encounter," said Christopher Nabeta, Executive Chair of Accelerate Auto.

In terms of the types of negative experiences they report, Black consumers, 20%, are more likely than White consumers, 15% to report they've been steered towards less expensive models or assumed they cannot afford a model.

Among Black vehicle shoppers, 22% report they felt the dealership sales representative assumed they had a poor credit score, vs. only 12% for White buyers.

Nearly three quarters of Black consumers, 73% and 74% of non-black minority consumers employ at least one strategy to ensure they are treated respectfully by the sales staff when preparing to go to a car dealership, while only 55% of Whites do so.

Top strategies include ensuring their clothing / dress was immaculate when entering a dealership, 30% Black vs. 16% for White consumers. Another strategy used by 36% of Black shoppers was to do extensive research on the vehicles they are interested in so that they come across as experts vs. only 20% for White shoppers.

"Our organization was created to help our industry partners ? OEMs, dealers and suppliers ? identify and close these gaps. We need to revisit how we are treating all buyers who walk into our showrooms," said Nabeta. "There's some good news in our findings too, since 92% of respondents have had a positive dealership experience when looking at vehicles."

There are also big wins for dealerships who treat their Black customers well, because Black consumers are more likely to write a positive online review about their experience, 34% vs. 25% for White customers.

The other key part of the study was to discover how Black talent felt about pursuing careers in the automotive industry.

The survey found Black and Other minority consumers are more likely than White consumers to say a workplace with greater diversity would be a reason to switch industries (30% and 23% vs. 15%).

However, Black consumers are almost twice as likely than White consumers to say it would be difficult to switch careers and start working in the automotive industry, because of the perception that car companies do not want to hire people like them (24% vs. 14% of White consumers). 

Black consumers are more likely than White and Other consumers to say that the automotive industry is lacking diversity (32% vs. 24% vs. 16%), and are more likely than White consumers to say the industry is not welcoming to people of Colour (18% vs. 10%).

Regardless of perceived barriers, nearly 92% of all respondents can select positive attributes of working in the auto industry, with the top characteristics being:

• Well-paying
• Up-to-date technology
• Continuous learning

Only 9% of the respondents overall describe dealerships as diverse, which for the purposes of this study was defined as being owned by a visible minority.

This study is the first of several research projects to help Accelerate Auto gather baseline data about perceptions, and experience of Black Canadians in the auto industry. The organization is looking to share these and future findings with industry partners, and help develop tools and strategies to create a more inclusive, diverse and equitable industry.

These are a few of the findings of an RKI led study commissioned by Accelerate Auto between August 10 to October 15, 2022. For this study, a sample of over 1,000 Canadians aged 18+ were surveyed over the phone. Sample was weighted to ensure the composition reflected that of the Canadian population, with an overweighted sample of Black Canadians (20%). The weight of Black representation in this survey was set in order to reflect and better understand insights from this subset of the population.

Accelerate Auto is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to increasing Black representation in the Canadian automotive industry. We provide Black talent and youth with access to mentorship for skills building and peer networking to support professional growth and career development. We facilitate career pathing through the form of internships to attract more Black talent to automotive and build awareness of opportunities within the industry. We are dedicated to creating a stronger and more diverse automotive workforce.  www.accelerateauto.ca

SOURCE Accelerate Auto