Boomers buying more new cars than their kids

By John LeBlanc As automakers chase elusive young buyers with funky concepts and show cars, they really should be focusing on their aging Baby Boomer parents. So says a new study from the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute. In the past, elderly or retired new car buyers bought vehicles on a less regular basis. But today, wealthier Baby Boomers — the demographic of post-World War II North Americans born between 1946 and 1964 — continue to drive new car sales in the United States. According to the study, the 55-to-64-year-old age group usurped the 35-to-44 year old age group four years ago as the new car market’s largest group. Adding to that evidence, 93 per cent of the 60-to-64-year-old age group had a driver’s license in 2011, up 9 per cent from 1983. Now consider this: just 79 per cent of the population between 20 and 24 had a driver’s license in 2011, compared with 92 percent in 1983. Other than being financially healthier than their offspring, others suggest Boomers are also more emotionally thatched to cars. “For people who grew up and lived in the 20th century, the car was freedom, it was status, it was an extension of you, a visible expression of you and your personality. A 20-year-old doesn’t see the car the same way,” says John Wolkonowicz, a U.S.-based automotive historian and a former Ford product planner. All the above begs the question: Why do automakers continue to chase younger customers that are less able or willing to buy new cars? A classic example is the now discontinued Honda Element. Designed for a mythical first-year university student, the boxy-but-practical SUV was primarily purchased by Boomers looking for a vehicle to pick up sheep manure from the garden centre or chauffeur their dogs to the dog park. “One of the dirty little secrets of the auto industry is all these cars are positioned in advertising and public relations as something a 25-year-old will buy,” said John Morel, a market researcher for Honda. “But your propensity to buy a car at 25 is roughly a quarter of what it is at age 65. By definition, very few cars sell in high volume to 20-somethings.” Source: Bloomberg

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