LA Times: American young people disenchanted with cars?

[1SICKLEX]

Thought I'd post here since most are young. What are your thoughts?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.co....html



Is the love affair between cars and young people starting to cool?

That could be the case, according to a new study of auto-related online commentary among teens and young adults by J.D. Power and Associates.

James Dean Between January and August, the market research firm analyzed hundreds of thousands of “conversations” on auto-related sites such as Autoblog, personal blogs and social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.

The goal was to gauge the perceptions of Generation Y (those born in the 1980s and early 1990s) toward the automotive industry in general, as well as toward specific vehicle brands. The analysis divided Gen Y into teens (12-18) and “early careerists” (22-29).

According to J.D. Power, “Online discussions by teens indicate shifts in perceptions regarding the necessity of and desire to have cars.”

American teenagers without a set of wheels? James Dean, who drove a '49 Mercury to fame in the 1955 movie "Rebel Without a Cause," must be spinning in his grave.

Part of the reason could be economic, the firm said. During the worst recession since the 1930s, the cost of owning and maintaining a car likely makes less sense than it did when gas was 30 cents a gallon and every red-blooded American teenager yearned for a Chevy Camaro or a Pontiac GTO.

“Also, with the advent of social media and other forms of electronic communities, teens perceive less of a need to physically congregate, and less of a need for a mode of transportation,” the study concluded.

That can’t be good news for the auto industry.

“The negative perceptions of the automotive industry that teens and early careerists hold could have implications on future vehicle sales,” said Chance Parker, vice president and general manager of J.D. Power and Associates Web Intelligence Division.

“Generation Y could have the greatest spending power of any generation — even surpassing that of the Baby Boomers. It will be essential for automakers to earn the trust and loyalty of Gen-Y consumers, who are particularly critical of brands and products.”

In Japan, the first major developed country to actually experience a decline in car ownership, disinterest among young people in owning cars — especially in urban areas such as Tokyo — is cited as one of the factors behind “demotorization.”

The trend is already having a serious impact on the Japanese auto industry, and poses a threat to car-dependent businesses such as restaurants and retail establishments located away from public transportation lines.

Of course, there’s always China. A J.D. Power analyst told USA Today a few months back that China’s 1.3 billion people “are simply wild about cars.” Back in January, monthly auto sales in China surpassed those in the United States for the first time ever.

U.S., Japanese and other automakers increasingly have been looking to China for sales growth, although the nation is also rapidly developing its own homegrown stable of car companies.

-- Martin Zimmerman

[Glides]

I think that the love affair with cars has cooled ONLY due to the economic times. Will it stay that way, no. The hardcores will always be hardcore.

Alot of young peoples attention these days is shifting along with the global green initiative though. Nowadays it's just as cool, or cooler, in a womans eyes for a guy to drive a Hybrid as it is to drive a nice, modified car. And let's face it, no matter what the "cool" guys say, Women's opinions DO matter on what someone drives. Add to that the fact that many more young and older peoples attitudes are also shifting to driving vehicles that are A: Cheaper to operate, especially with gas prices so volatile and B: much less taxing on the environment, you get a shrinking of the Global car culture as a whole. More people are looking at cars as tool than art.

Now...when nicely modified Hybrids come along......everyone wins.

[40th GT]

Women's opinions DO matter on what someone drives.

I agree with everything you said except this part.
If one uses a car to get approval from others, there's a problem.

Call me ignorant but I'd still be reluctant to buy a hybrid. If/when times get tougher, I'd just park the car and take the bus.

[Glides]

I agree with everything you said except this part.
If one uses a car to get approval from others, there's a problem.

Call me ignorant but I'd still be reluctant to buy a hybrid. If/when times get tougher, I'd just park the car and take the bus.

Are you serious? I don't mean to be comical, but all you need to do is go to the Car Pics section here and simply look at every car owners thread. They put them up there for one purpose only, to showcase their vehicle for others approval. Sure, they build it for themselves, some do at least....but in the end, you want other people to like it. If they didn't, they would simply never take pics, post pics....car shows would be a thing of the past, it would be total anarchy everywhere and people would die.

[Ziptied]

[Ziptied]

/thread.

[m3dic8d]

I agree with everything you said except this part.
If one uses a car to get approval from others, there's a problem.

Call me ignorant but I'd still be reluctant to buy a hybrid. If/when times get tougher, I'd just park the car and take the bus.

I agree with him to an extent. The extent that a lot (maybe even the majority) of people are influenced over the opposite sex. Everything I've ever done in my life has been geared toward being able to get quality pussy, cars included. Same with my friends. We work out for it, nice cars for it, work for it... it dominates our lives. Pathetic? Sure. But that's how a lot of people are...

And this is not to say we rely on these things to get it, simply adds to the image and makes things easier. Hell, I rolled around in my Contour for a year and still had no problem... because I know that was where your next point was headed


As far as people being less interested in cars I have noticed that a lot of young people don't know or care anything about cars. Do they think a nice car is awesome? Hell yea! But they don't care enough to get one for themselves because they're happy rolling in a Corolla because it's more practical.

[87 Turbo II]

Too many people don't find enough joy in driving. If more people enjoyed driving, more people would be better at it, and enjoy their cars more too. I blame traffic, cell phones(and other distractions), the overuse of computers in cars (drive by wire, traction control, and all that), and the lack ofmatenance cars need.

Think about the perfect formula they had in the good old days. Everyone got close to their car by working on it because the old points had to be adjusted,carburetors rebuilt, and such. Ownership was cheap, horsepower was high, styling was great because of few safety limitations, everything was mechanically felt through the steering collumn and pedals. And people couldn't use a cell phone, or GPS or anything else to distract from just how much fun their car brought them, just windows they could open, and a radio they could play, the only 2 creature comforts and BOTH add to the joy of driving. This is why people don't care about cars, because we're getting farther and farther away from the cars that FORCED people to enjoy driving.

(just want to say, I'm all for fuel injection, digital ignition and power steering and such, but I do think if more people who nowadays never pop the hood had these systems it would make them appreciate the car more by having to work to keep it on the road, you guys whi tune modern cars don't need that "bad technology" because you still work on the cars for fun)