Popular culture claims that Mexican-American drivers are intensely loyal to the Chevrolet brand…is this really true?
I remember an old joke "What are the two most important days to a Mexican-American? (Answer): Cinco de Mayo and the day the new Chevys come out.
Are there any statistics that show that Mexican-American citizens are more likely to buy a Chevy, than any other brand of car?
Don’t know about any studies that may exist on this subject, and frankly I don’t see much point to it, but I can say, of the five persons in my office who are known to be of Mexican descent, two own Toyotas, one a Nissan Xterra, one a Jeep Liberty and, hey, one a Chevy Cobalt. Pretty sure that’s not enough for a valid sample, though.
OTOH, we’ve got two Newfoundlanders at the same location; they both drive Chevys.
Next up: are Subaru Foresters really popular with lesbians?
Well, anecdotal I’d say no. I’m a Mexican American and I don’t own a Chevy and never have. My wife and I have a Ford Focus, and my company car is a Ford Taurus. Before that i was mostly a Toyota fan. My folks (also Mexican American’s) own a Lincoln town car of some kind, a Buick Riviera and some kind of Lexus sports utility thingy. I think I have one cousin (Mexican American) who has a Suburban…but he’s really the only one I can think of off the top of my head who has a Chevy. There is probably a few in the wood pile somewhere, but at least in my own experience Mexican American’s don’t own Chevrolet’s at any higher rate than any other ethnic group. I think that American’s just like the way we say Chevy…
-XT
It would explain Chevys. 
Horrible ‘Mexican’ restaurant, btw…I went to a few of them when we lived on the east coast.
-XT
Not a debate.
Might be a GQ, although the answers are more likely to be opinions, so off to IMHO.
[Moderator Hat ON]
Well, it’s not really a great debate…maybe someone at GQ can rustle up some actual demographics on chevy ownership.
[Moderator Hat OFF]
Yes. And Outbacks. My evidence: Ever been to western Massachussetts?
In all seriousness, I wonder whether this has ever been quantified.
You are damned straight on that one at least according to my experience at least in Massachusetts and most of New England. Subaru has advertising aimed at lesbians and it seems to work.
The Subaru Forester is supposed to be the top lesbian car:
Another Mexican-American checking in: My car ownership history: Olds Cutlass, Ford Maverick, Pontiac Sunbird, Honda Civic, Honda Civic, Nissan Altima, Nissan Sentra. My brother: Volvo, Honda Accord, Lexus Can’t Remember What (or maybe it was an Acura), Honda Accord. I think one of my cousins in Mexico might have had a Chevy van, but everyone else has had all non-Chevrolets.
These threads always turn out the same: everybody chimes to claim that the exact opposite of the OP’s claims are true.
I have noticed correlations between various ethnic groups in the United States, and the cars they prefer, but I don’t think they can be quantified with any hard statistics.
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Italian-Americans: GM brands, especially Cadillacs, Chevrolets (the Monte Carlo was the Italian car in the 1980s) and Pontiacs.
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Indian-Americans: Honda Accord.
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Jews: slight preference for Buicks, aversion to Fords. (The parking lot at my old synagogue in Cleveland had very few Fords, relatively speaking, but still a disproportionately large number of German cars.)
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Asian-Americans: any Japanese brand, to the exclusion of American brands.
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Around the Austin area, I found that first-generation Mexican-Americans and migrant workers from Mexico prefer large pickup trucks.
I think this might be more noticeable in areas where there are strong traditional ethnic neighborhoods; the Northeast and Great Lakes region.
Isn’t the “Mexicans love Chevrolets” stereotype something that’s quite outdated, reflective of 1950s-1960s chollo culture in Los Angeles?
I’m guessing the ‘Mexicans like Chevys’ thing is from 'Lowrider Culture’. The Impala seems particularly popular (mentioned in the Wiki article, and also from what I saw while living in L.A.). That is to say, some segment of Mexicans prefer Chevys, but it can’t be applied to the majority.
FWIW, the Mexican-Americans I’ve known have driven a Yugo, a Chevy van, a Honda, an Acura, and a Jetta.
I think it is the low-rider/Hispanic custom that perpetuates this myth as well. You remember their cars, because they are so very different from (most of) ours. I would not single out the Chevrolet marque as the main brand, but rather: anything by GM is the preferred medium for this particular subculture. Once you take all of the badges off of a GM car, it takes a good look to tell the individual brands apart. Teocal’s upholstery shop is just down the street. Rear wheel drive GM frames that you can fit a V8 in are their bread and butter. I think the only non-GM cars I have noticed there were a Matador, one ot the odd 2 seater Capris, and a Javelin. It’s becoming more of a historical myth every day, since most of the hispanic guys I have met recently aren’t interested in a RWD GM vehicle, but are buying Hondas and DSM cars to hotrod. I am assuming that it’s the older, more wealthy guys that are employing folks like Teocal’s shop to do their upholstery for them. Kind of the equivalent of the folks you see spending 100K on the same GM frame, prepared differently, at the Barret-Jackson auctions.
And, even considering all of that: I’ve bought a car that was halfway to being a low-rider when I got it. My father would have beaten me with it had it been a GM product. It was a Ford Ranchero. They had given it the seat out of a Lincoln, purple metal flake, like boat paint: mmmmmmmmm, good, tiny steering wheel: hmmmm, weird. Never really understood that, outside of the punch line for the joke. Maybe I’m gullible, but I don’t think that can be the true explanation for that steering wheel’s popularity.
I’ll have to let my fiancee know about it… he drives a Forrester and we’re looking at buying an Outback for me when my car dies… hmm…
I don’t think anyone is saying Foresters are owned only by lesbians, just like nobody is claiming that Chevrolets are only driven by Mexican-Americans.
I’m a straight male and I own a Forester, but when I pass another Forester on the road and peek at the driver or passengers, I see a far higher percentage of butch-looking women than with other car brands and models. Not all lesbians drive Foresters, of course, but a disproportionately large number likely do, compared to the population as a whole.
The “group X drives vehicle Y” stereotypes must have some basis in fact if they managed to become widespread. The reasons why some groups would gravitate towards a certain vehicle is what I find fascinating.
- Lesbians -> Subarus: marketing, perception of low-key “outdoorsiness” compatible with a dominant segment of lesbian culture.
- Mexican-Americans -> Chevrolets: lowrider culture (interchangeability of parts, maintenance, etc)
- Jews -> anything but Ford: Henry Ford’s anti-Semitism. (Jews still try to drown out the name of Haman whenever it is spoken during Purim, so it’s unlikely they’ll be flocking to Fords anytime in the next few thousand years.
) - African-Americans -> Cadillacs: denied housing opportunities before Civil Rights era, so disposable income was directed towards a car as a personal luxury. (At least that’s what I understand; I’m probably wrong.)
Some of the others, though, I don’t know. Gay men and Volkswagen Jettas? Italian-Americans and GM products? Liberals and Volvos? Dumpy redneck chicks and Pontiac Sunfires? Attractive blonde women and Volkswagen Cabriolets?