Vehicle registrations by African-Americans climbed by more than 11 percent in 2010 and one brand, in particular, seems to be benefiting, according to Polk. The automaker most popular among African-Americans in 2010 was Toyota.

Specifically, Polk discovered that there were 641,090 new-vehicle registrations within the African-American demographic last year. This marks an 11.5-percent gain from the prior year. Comparatively, new-vehicle registrations in the “non-ethnic” demographic climbed 6.8 percent.

The proportion of all U.S. new-vehicle registrations comprised by African-Americans was at 7.4 percent. 

Toyota accounted for 15 percent of new-vehicle purchases among African-Americans last year, followed by Ford, Chevrolet and Honda, respectively, in spots  2-4.

The latter three were neck-in-neck, separated by less than half a percentage point as Ford’s share was at 11.7 percent, Chevrolet came in at 11.4 percent and Honda claimed an 11.3-percent share.

“With the U.S. population growing faster in the African-American segment than others, there’s a significant opportunity for automotive manufacturers and dealers to begin to align marketing initiatives toward this specific audience,” explained Polk product strategist Marc Bland. “Those companies that are ahead of the curve, like Toyota, are already reaping the rewards.”

Rounding out the top 10 were Nissan (10.2 percent), Hyundai (5.6 percent), Kia (4.2 percent), Dodge (4 percent), GMC (2.8 percent) and Volkswagen (2.2 percent).

The brand showing the most growth among African-Americans is Buick, whose market share climbed 72.2 percent in 2010. Hyundai was next on the list with a 53.2-percent increase, followed by Kia (up 34.6 percent) and Cadillac (up 34.4 percent).

GMC (up 33.6 percent) and Infiniti (up 30.9 percent) also saw their shares climb more than 30 percent.

Conversely, Polk pointed out that growth in luxury brands, including Acura, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, is slower than the market average.

“These brands have significant opportunity to connect more with this audience and grow their share of the market by attracting more affluent African-Americans to their brands,” Polk suggested.

The company also emphasized U.S. Census Bureau data that projects a 12-percent gain in the African-American population within the next nine years and a hike close to 25 percent by 2030.

“If manufacturers do not establish themselves with these critical ethnic audiences now, significant growth opportunities with these influential and critical groups will be missed,” Polk shared.

Polk offered the following tables to better illustrate its data: