Minorities, women, pay more for cars - study

17 December 2001: Minority ethnic groups and women pay more for their cars in the US than white males, according to a new study.

The study analysed 700,000 car purchases made in 1999 and was undertaken by by researchers at the University of California's Haas School of Business, the Yale School of Management and J D Power and Associates.

Minority car buyers pay about 2 per cent more than white consumers, or about $500 for the average car, at car dealerships. Women pay slightly more than men - 0.2 per cent or $45 per average car - when they make their purchases at dealerships.

The researchers attribute the difference in purchase price to differing income, education and search costs on the part of the minority buyers, which leave them at a disadvantage when it comes to negotiating new car deals.

But the study also found that purchasers of cars over the Internet made that difference virtually disappear. TW