A Houston-based non-profit organization is preparing to unveil an online community and dealer exchange in June that will target the automotive industry and help the Hispanic consumer.
(PRWEB) April 22, 2004 -- National Hispanic Automotive Consumer Advocacy (NHACA) a non-profit organization revs up online exchange and a “Demographically Driven Business Development Center” for the Hispanic consumer with a legal 1-800 help line.
A Houston-based non-profit organization is preparing to unveil an online community and dealer exchange in June that will target the automotive industry and help the Hispanic consumer.
The Houston base company will be opening its doors in June and will service the following Hispanic communities, with Harris County, Texas being the first:
1. Los Angeles County, CA
2. Miami-Dade County, Florida
3. Harris County, Texas
4. Cook County, Illinois
5. Orange County, California
6. Maricopa County, Arizona
7. Bexar County, Texas
8. San Diego County, California
9. San Bernardino County, California
10. Dallas County, Texas
Once NHACA officially launches its www.nhaca.org website it will go head-to-head with auto dealerships and manufactures by representing the Hispanic consumer.
NHACA, which is going live in June, allows Hispanic consumer to do business with local automotive dealer online and if they are lacking the resources to go online, NHACA will provide a 1-800 number for assistance in English or Spanish Monday thru Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
David Medina, NHACA's Chairman and Founder and also a twenty year veteran of the automotive industry, says he remembers back to his childhood and going with his father to purchase a car and what a terrible experience it was for his father and that no individual should have to experience what he did. Mr. Medina stated that three people walked on the lot of different ethnic backgrounds the last person asked to be helped was his father (Hispanic). Mr. Medina states it still hasn’t changed although the Hispanic population boomed 61% between 1990 and 2003 – exploding from 21.9 million to 35.3 million – making it the fastest-growing group in America, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It is projected that the Hispanic population will triple in size by 2050, reaching 24% of the total U.S. population, according to Strategy Research Corporation.
Mr. Medina also states this is just the beginning of the problem, dealer markups have come under increased scrutiny from consumer advocates, who say the subjective rate increases are used disproportionately against blacks, Hispanics, people with limited education and those with bad credit.
Consumers think they're getting interest rates based on their creditworthiness, but dealer markups typically add at least $1,000 to the cost of a car loan, according to a recent report by the Consumer Federation of America, a watchdog group in Washington.
Stuart Rossman, general counsel for National Consumer Law Center was quoted to say some markups cost car buyers up to $10,000 over the life of their loan. The federation estimates that markups cost U.S. consumers about $1 billion a year.
"A true representative of the Hispanic consumer should have no ability to be biased, the manufacture and the local automotive dealer can never achieve this" Medina says.
Last month, NHACA secured a total of $1 million in funding in anticipation of its long and overdue launch.
Medina says $1 million was raised from large corporate sponsors that he will not name. Another $1/2 million came from concerned individuals whose names are also being kept under wraps.
The organization has contracted with Precise Resource Group Inc. for its Customer Relations Management (CRM) needs for the “Demographically Driven Business Development Center” Medina chose Precise Resource Group due to their experience and compassion to the Hispanic community.
"I believe in the new world," says Medina, of the equity for services trade-off. "Alliances are key and essential."
Medina says he saw a need for this advocacy when he was working with ADP/Traver Technologies Inc. as the National Director of Training, a Houston-based training company specializing in software and sales for the automotive industry. As the national director of training from 1995 to 1999, Medina noticed a lack of resources for the Hispanic individual, misrepresentation and the total lack of concern for the community all together. Medina stated it was industry practice for dealers to brag on how much money they made off this segment of society.
NHACA’s Website www.nhaca.org will link consumers and dealers together, and will also deliver a very important message. That message is “NHACA is changing the rules of the game for the Hispanic community on a local and National basis." This includes local businesses, consumers, and Non-Profit organizations. Medina says it is vital that we create awareness among the Hispanic community of the changes and information that is not currently available to them by the automotive dealer and manufacturer. We will help the Hispanic community to ask the right questions about these changes and provide them with the necessary resources and information. Ultimately NHACA will give them solutions to the problems and issues they deal with on a daily basis as a consumer.
NHACA’s solution is to fill this void and lack of compassion, disclosure, and concern to for Hispanic community by the automotive dealer and manufacture. By combining dealer, manufacture, business, community resources and standardized technology to a National site and a Nationally Demographically Driven Business Development Center while providing a local flavor of each Hispanic community. NHACA has devised a grassroots marketing initiative and a unique strategy that is based on this "best of both worlds" mix and its understanding of the issues present in local Hispanic communities and with the automotive dealers.
Medina says as NHACA successfully executes its strategy, it will become the leading source of National and local information, e-commerce and promotion in Hispanic communities across America. Our Advocacy will attain this position by utilizing local marketing teams powered by technology to systematically build a National Hispanic consumer network. Our website will be set-up free of charge for individual communities and Hispanic consumers, and will benefit the Hispanic consumer; resident and Hispanic communities by providing them with a destination and/or presence in the automotive industry that helps them achieve their unique individual and community goals.
Consumers will be able to compare dealer bids in real time, and select a few candidates for further discussions in a secured environment.
Auto dealers will be able to be certified and have a direct link to the Hispanic community, Medina says.
NHACA has been beta testing the site for the last two months, he says. The exchange should be ready for service in early June. "Before you bring it to the market, you have to have your site 100 percent ready," he says. "We'll be ready and available."
By June, NHACA expects to have 23 employees, about half in Houston and half in California.
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