Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

You've lost that lovin' feelin'?

He serves as the chief judge at the world's most prestigious classic car show, the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. He's a widely respected automotive journalist and author, and he has a garage full of hot rods and other cool cars. But when it comes to his two teen children, "They haven't shown the slightest interest" in what's in that garage, Ken Gross laments.

Teenage rebellion? Perhaps, as teens often seem determined to resist their parents in just about every way imaginable, but one thing parent and child once always seemed to agree on was the importance of driving a car. Not anymore.

According to a recent study, nearly a third of American 19-year-olds haven't bothered to get their driver's licenses yet. Three decades ago, it was just one in eight who skipped that right of passage, according to Michael Sivak, of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, or UMTRI. Among those 20 to 24, meanwhile, only 81 percent had gotten their licenses in 2010, down from 92 percent in 1983.

That may not necessarily be bad news for parents pacing the floor wondering where their kids are after curfew. But it's potentially disastrous for the auto industry. No, Millennials don't make up a large portion of the new car buying community – yet. But as a generation larger in number than the once sought-after Boomers, they were seen as the next big hope for carmakers after the downsized Gen-X.

Instead, "They seem lukewarm, at best," about buying cars, laments Jim Lentz, Toyota's top U.S. executive, something that could translate into a much weaker market than many had hoped for, especially as Millennials age and increase their earning power. With Boomers, the aging process yielded the best years the U.S. auto industry has ever had – but it's very possible that scenario won't repeat itself, at least with Gen-Y.

"It's no longer a foregone conclusion that we will be able to sell cars to a large and emerging demographic," said Ford's President of the Americas Mark Fields, during an industry conference earlier this year.

Even those teens who do get licensed seem to be getting behind the wheel less often. An April study by the Frontier Group found that the average number of miles driven by those aged 16 to 34 dropped by 23 percent between 2001 and 2009 – to 7,900 miles annually. The national norm runs between 12,000 and 15,000 miles. Indeed, Gross says his son Jacob seems content with driving to school, football practice and then back home, rather than clocking as many miles as possible.

Why are young Americans losing their love affair with the automobile? There are any number of explanations. There's the economy, of course, which has even driven millions of older buyers out of the car market. Young buyers, in particular, are more likely to have to settle for higher interest – meaning costlier – subprime loans. Compounding matters, they're facing a market with higher unemployment and lower wages, and are leaving school saddled with massive loan debt.

Of course, that's all meaningless, anyway, for those who don't have a license and don't want one.

The biggest reason behind this dwindling love affair might be a series of broad societal shifts. A recent analysis of census data found that for the first time since the launch of the Model T, America's urban population is growing faster than in the suburbs. Even Detroit, with its crumbling neighborhoods, has seen a revival in its downtown core.

Over that past century, the automobile has come to be seen as the ultimate American symbol of freedom, but "unlike previous years, there are many different ways that a Gen Y person can capture that freedom," contends Alexander Edwards, head of research at the California-based consulting firm Strategic Vision.

Have you ever tried to take a cellphone or iPad away from a teenager? For a large percentage of Millennials, texting has become the preferred form of communication, and "Virtual contact reduces the need for actual contact," suggests UMTRI's Sivak. "We found that the percentage of young drivers was inversely related to the availability of the Internet."

Some experts downplay recent trends. They suggest that as Millennials age they will return to traditional patterns. And, as they begin to raise families, the argument goes, they'll be forced to buy cars, love them or not.

Maybe, but historical precedent shows that buying patterns later in life are strongly influenced by what teenagers desire. Will a teen who puts a poster of a hot new cellphone on his wall lust for a Lamborghini or BMW later in life?

Studies suggest many young buyers see automobiles as a pox upon the environment, but research also suggests Millennials at least warm up a little towards hybrids, electric vehicles and hydrogen cars.

"There's no silver bullet for Gen-Y," cautions Clay Dean, head of advanced design at General Motors. GM has been showing off two concepts aimed at Millennials in recent months: the Chevrolet Tru 140S and Chevy Code 130R. And Dean hints that they could provide the foundation for a low-priced model aimed at young buyers likely to reach market in the next several years.

Automakers are looking for other ways to connect with the digital generation. Chevrolet launched its marketing efforts for its new Sonic subcompact during the 2012 Super Bowl with an ad dubbed "kick flip,"featuring pro skateboarder Rob Dyrdek. Ford is investing heavily in Facebook and other social media efforts.

But the uncomfortable reality for automakers may be that gone are the days when young Americans rushed to get their license, worked long hours to afford a car and then spent the rest of their lives lusting after their next automobile.

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/08/31/y...in-eisenstein/

T0ked

iTrader: (2)

I have three sisters, all a decade or more my junior, all with their licenses, and none of them drive or desire to drive. All live in NYC. None of their friends drive either. And they all vilify my cars as "contributing" to my "enormous carbon footprint". If my sisters are the face of Gen-Y, then maybe the auto companies do have something to worry about...

edgeucated

iTrader: (4)

im surprised this article never once mentions the price of gas.

gas is almost 4.50 a gallon, do people still expect me to just come over and chill

FrankReynoldsCPA

I annoyed the living hell out of my parents for the first week or two after I turned 16. Where I grew up, we didn't have our own Driver's License Division office. We had a couple of DLD employees from St. George who came over once a week(Tuesdays, for one hour) so people could get their licenses or renew them, etc. My birthday fell on Wednesday that year as I recall, and so I had to wait until next Tuesday. I must have been intolerable. When I went to get it the next tuesday, I failed the eye exam, so I had to get glasses and wait another week. To a 16 year old, 2-3 weeks can seem like an eternity lol.

My best friend failed Driver's Ed the first time, and just waited 2 years before even bothering to get his license.

ABC

I think this is a combination of:

1) It's expensive to drive today
2) it's hard to get decent jobs at 19 to pay for a car, gas, insurance, etc
3) More and more people are growing up/moving to urban areas where they might not need a car or having a car is a hindrance (think nyc)

LexFather

It kind of sucks b/c a hand down from mom and dad today is far superior to any hand down we got. I mean most all new cars are awesome.

To me some of it pricing. Cars to acquire are not cheap. Beetles and Fiat 500s can be 20 grand easy. A small IQ is a 17k car easy.

You then have cheap cars but they are not fun or quirky like the Nissan Versa. Its obviously basic transportation with no flavor.

I always imagined a real "new beetle" costing around 10k that can be customized by the youth.

On the other side, the Mustang, Camaro, FRS, Genesis coupe can all be had in the mid 20k range and they are interesting to the youth. So all is not lost to me.

Also they don't mention all the new enthusiasts, the stance kids, the new kids tracking cars etc.

All is not lost.

FrankReynoldsCPA

True, but there's no way in hell I would have had a 20k car in my teenage years, even now my car only cost me $3200. Even my parents drive cars that cost less than $10k.

There's no reason why a teenager can't have and enjoy a beater. My 89 Firebird was in a poor state of affairs when I acquired it, but I had as much if not more fun in that car than I have in my nice Lexus.

GiantsFan

iTrader: (9)

Maybe if more fun and interesting cars come into the market the kiddos will be much more into cars.

There is a reason most kinds want a EVO, STi, etc type of car. They want cheap power!

Fizzboy7

Definitely a combination of things contributing, but I think it's mainly a reflection of the strength of our country. During the 1950's through the 80's, the US was multiplying with mass suburbia. The suburbs is what fuels teen driving. With the decline of suburbia and increase in urban living, reliance on public transit has taken the place.
In terms of personal driving, I connect it with U.S. prosperity. The whole process is like the life of a flower. There's a sprout, body growth, flower blossom, then it wilts, then it dies. We are at the wilting stage.

LexFather

It is also up to us enthusiasts, real enthusiasts to keep it going and pass that love and passion on. You might open a kids eyes up to cars. Everyone around me knows if they bring kids around, I'm going to talk cars with them and when its gift time it will likely be car related.

Since being married I've inherited two wonderful younger brother/sisters who I take to every car meet possible when they are here and I make them read books on cars and talk to me about them later. The young kid is now 11 and is drawing cars and wants to maybe be an engineer in the auto field. He loves cars and I can say I helped show him more about them. The younger sister too, her favorite brand is Aston Martin and she has been taught how to wash a car to how to change a tire.

We can't just expect the next generation to love cars maybe how we did. We have to take some time and show the youth about cars!

Och

iTrader: (3)

Gas is expensive, rent is expensive, college is expensive - it sucks to be a teenager nowadays. Has nothing to do with teenagers losing interest in cars, they simply cant afford to drive.

Fizzboy7

Also has to do with a cultural shift. Speaking for Los Angeles, the latin population has nearly taken over many cities within the last twenty years. When you look at their roots, auto ownership and car hobbies are often not part of the original equation. Certainly that has had an impact on trends here. This is no longer the apple pie, vanilla ice cream, Ford vs. Chevy arguement on a balmy night culture.

My0gr81

Cars are now competing for the short attention span of teenagers along with video games, cool phones, computers and girls. In the past, all they had was cars and girls.

Cars are getting more complicated to work on. In the past, anyone with half a brain and a tool set could get into customizing and squeezing out the last bit of performance out of a car. Today, aside from expensive bolt on mods, very little can be customized. Some cars can be customized, and you can see their cult following with the young crowd (civic, integra, etc)

Cars are starting to become a utility device, to get you from A to B. Unless a kid can afford a high end, cool car. Most don't want to get into the game at all.

LexFather

I dunno, I find latino people very much into cars to me and in the Caribbean they love their cars. To me people moving here from other countries would be more into cars since gas is cheaper, ownership is cheaper etc compared to overseas.

Are the fathers/mothers influencing kids? Maybe they just don't care and the kids thus don't care. Maybe they are driving the kids everywhere instead of saying "hey you need a license".

Whats crazy is we have never had better cheap or used cars!!!

mmarshall

To me, there are two main reasons....neither of which the article really seems to go into in much detail. First is the proliferation of E-mail, texting, cell-phones, Twitter, music-downloading, video-games, and a general preoccupation with electronic devices. Some teens (thank goodness) are smart enough to know that one often cannot safely drive and multi-task at the same time with these devices....they have seen the results of those who do. Second, the roads are simply too overcrowded in many areas, particularly in and around major cities (the D.C. area I live in, for example, has arguably the second-worst raffic in the country outside of SoCal). Added to that are constant stop-signs, speed-bumps, traffic-lights, DO NOT ENTER signs, barricades, difficult parking, graduated-licensing requirements, etc.......which just make driving, which is already a pain in the a** in a lot of areas, even worse. Contrast this, today, with the far better conditions when I first started driving in late 60s (there simply is no comparison) , and it is little wonder that some of today's teens are content to just sit in the back of the minivan and leave the driving to Mom and Dad.