Will the American market's new small cars resonate with young buyers?
Continued gas price hikes have intensified media coverage on subcompacts like the Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit and upcoming Nissan Versa. Bloomberg's Doron Levin, though, questions if young Americans will truly embrace the 'Small is Beautiful' trend.He points out that today's young people don't necessarily see 'inexpensive' and 'gets great gas mileage' as top priorities for their vehicles. According to a study by automotive analysts, such buyers feel a sense of entitlement fostered by their parents. Levin's own daughter rejected a perfectly running Ford Taurus and rode with friends until given a Chevrolet Blazer.
Levin does address the lone exception, Scion. In fact, he writes that the Japanese automakers have the most experience in marketing small vehicles, and are the best equipped to persuade reluctant Americans of their validity. As the Toyota Echo showed, though, even they have had their share of flops.
What do you think of Levin's analysis? Have your say in 'Comments.'
Related: Toyota, Honda, Nissan's smallest prepped for battle; Chrysler, Ford, and GM missing the subcompact wave?
[Bloomberg via Financial Express]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
James 11:08AM (5/08/2006)
I guess it depends more on what you can afford. If mommy and daddy are paying for it, why wouldn't you hold out for more?
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Max 11:11AM (5/08/2006)
Levin's daughter sounds like a brat.
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josh 11:11AM (5/08/2006)
"Levin's own daughter rejected a perfectly running Ford Taurus and rode with friends until given a Chevrolet Blazer. "
yeah they didn't mention she's 16 and still on daddies dime and probably won't be paying 75$ to fill up her 12mpg blazer....
once the kiddies get out of college and see how retarted buying an SUV is, they will be buying small cars left and right.
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Puff Chippy 11:19AM (5/08/2006)
??Actually, the latest wave of buyers is very self-centered, very confident and have a sense of entitlement.??
This is something that's been happening for years. What a sad state of mind we impair our children with. That's why 16 year old brats refuse free cars, why college grads refuse job offers making less than $50k a year and why these same 30 year old college brats come back home to live with mumsy and daddie. Do you really think you're helping your child by raising them this way???
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JW 11:29AM (5/08/2006)
I would never drive a ford taurus, I had to in drivers ed and it sucked. And for the small car thing, the subcompacts are ugly. They all look like they were a mid sized car and smashed in on both ends. There are better and bigger cars that are "inexpensive". Kia has some nice cars and so does suzuki...but IMO I will only drive a DCX car minus mercedes...but that's because my parents work for them and that means discounts.
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Tim UF 11:31AM (5/08/2006)
why cant ford bring over the Ka, or festiva?
DCX has the smart car losing money, why not let it lose money here too?
GM has the aveo (which the versa looks eerily smilar to in the rear 3/4 view)... but who is buying it?
GM had a way to bring the subcompacts to our market, the GEO brand, but they tanked that one a long while ago (despite having a rebadged corolla).
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RossL 11:33AM (5/08/2006)
> once the kiddies get out of college and see how retarted buying an SUV is
Hint: If you can't spell "retarded," don't accuse other people of being stupid.
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DriftPunch 11:37AM (5/08/2006)
Buying a SUV is no more or less intelligent than buying a sports or luxury car. Each has drawbacks and costs that basic A->B transportation doesn't need to have. If you are willing to pay for what you want, why not. Where SUVs got into trouble, is that people bought them thinking that there were no trade offs.
My girlfriend has a 16 year old, and observing that groups' behavior is amazing. They have molded their lives after the OC & Beverly Hills 90210 lifestyles. In the arms race against the Jones, their parents have been quite happy to parcitipate. Luxury is an EXPECTATION in this crowd. Most will have their ass handed to them fairly shortly. This behavior has always existed in the country club circuit. Today, it has consumed a good bit of the middle-upper/middle class too.
A wise man once said, Self Esteem is the fallback position of those without the goods to gain legitimate Self Respect.
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JH 11:43AM (5/08/2006)
Who says bigger=better... Bring on the small cars, but don't make them cheapo econo-boxes. We need more premium/luxury small cars. Not everyone who can afford a 3-series or an A4 needs something that big. All I need is a small luxury hatchback with an excellent interior, excellent performance, and room for a hockey bag, some luggage, or some ski gear. The market for this is WIDE OPEN... There's the A3, the soon-to-be-extinct SAAB 9-2x and what else?
Why buy a sedan just to drive yourself around in? I'm single, no kids, I commute, I make more money than I need, but I don't want to drive a boat, or a sports car. I want a luxury small car. I'm sure there are plenty of us in this market.
Bring over the 1-series! Bring over the VW R32! Hurry up with that new Volvo! And Saab, get to market with your 9-1!
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John Harris 11:47AM (5/08/2006)
I am tired of hearing of small cars being as an item only of interest to the "youth market". I am 45 (half dead)and find cars like the Scion Xb and Honda Fit to have great appeal. Car companies who think that only twenty somethings will buy these cars are being stupid. Most of the Scion Xb I see are being driven by my seniors, and I can only imagine the poor Scion salesman shouting into Grandpa's hearing aid about cold air intakes or MP3 jack equipped stereos. Perhaps car companies are afraid that their customers will realize that they don't need a 4500 Lb truck to carry one person to work and back.
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hj 11:48AM (5/08/2006)
Kids have a sense of entitlement because todays parents raised them to think of themselves that way. If anyones here has seen the way white middle class parents behave these days it's disgusting.
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steve s 11:50AM (5/08/2006)
First and formost no matter the size it has to look good/appeal to it's target audience. The Mazda 3 is a small vehicle and it looks really good. Getting good gas mileage is a nice plus but if you are buying a small car you can expect 30-40 highway in any smallish car. Doesn't the Corolla get 40mpg highway. Other than being cheaper as a new car why buy a Fit or Yaris? My kids will get used cars anyway, better off with a used Corolla, Civic, Mazda 3/6 or Subaru Impreza than a new Yaris, Fit and so on.
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Robert 12:01PM (5/08/2006)
My opinion is that younger people love their Minis, RSXs, Jettas, Golfs, Imprezas and the like. Out of college students I?m friends with one girl loves her Hummer H3 as much another does her SVT Focus. Two of my 14 year old brother?s favorite cars are the PT Cruiser and the Jaguar XJS, two very different vehicles on the size scale. There?s nothing inherent in being young that determines what size vehicle they drive. Young people are more concerned with the style of the vehicle and how it fits their personality. Some people want to appear larger then life in a Slade while other people want to be boy racer in an STI. I still haven?t figured out what Xb drivers are trying to say.
Now if the question is more of the Yaris, Fit, and Versa class I think it?s a question of price. Some people refuse to buy used so if all they can afford is a Versa (even if they really can?t afford that) they?re going to get a Versa. A used Taurus may make more sense, but ?used? is a deal breaker.
Judging from reviews I think the Fit may be able to break through being merely a cheap car into being an enthusiast car. I?m in my 20s and I?d like to give it a test drive. My greatest complaint with the otherwise phenomenal progress in car design is their ever increasing mass. I?d love to have Colin Chapman?s opinion on the 300C SRT8 and I can imagine what he?d say. You don?t have to drive a shoe box to decrease mass and even the dimensionally restrained Audi A3 is a porker underneath the girdle. Still, the easiest way to improve vehicle dynamics is to start with a smart package. Millionaire poseurs can spring for an obscenely bloated Veyron while true drivers enjoy their small car. Young people get that.
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ron 12:02PM (5/08/2006)
Each year I participate in 'Enrichment Day' at one of the local middle schools. Last time I was there I saw some sweet young thing wearing a T-shirt that said:
SAW IT
WANTED IT
THREW A FIT
GOT IT!!
Thinking about my own niece's demands for a new Honda for her 16th birthday (yeah, she got it), this just about sums it up!
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JW 12:04PM (5/08/2006)
I hate the OC. Its stupid and nothing but rich bratty kids. With saying that cars do not need to be luxurious all tha time, because if they were that means people would be paying $30,000 for a car the size of a small car like the Caliber or Cobalt. I'm all for the cheap fun driving cars and not some bmw or mercedes.
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Michael Karesh 12:04PM (5/08/2006)
I love small cars, and drive a Protege5 myself despite having three kids. (Yes, three carseats fit easily if you know what you're doing.)
However, neither the Fit nor the Yaris strikes me as good value for money. By spending a bit more, you can get a lot more car. Their fuel economy is just a bit better than something like a Civic as well.
My pages for these two, with links to my reviews and common price comparisons:
http://www.truedelta.com/models/Fit.php
http://www.truedelta.com/models/Yaris.php
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Tim UF 12:12PM (5/08/2006)
im with JH on the upscale small cars, did you know that canada has an acura version of the civic? the 1.7EL, if something like that was offered here itd be on my shopping list; along with the TSX, mazda3s, wrx limited, s40, c30 [when it gets here], audi a3, i woulda looked at the m/b c coupe, and 318ti also, though niether of those sold particularly well, which i guess is the reason for not having other econolux cars in the states... humbug to the sclade
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PJ 12:21PM (5/08/2006)
It's not just indulgent parenting that results in these attitudes. Today's kids are bombarded with advertising and media messages, to a greater extent than any previous generation. They're now marketing targets before they're 10, and by the time they're 15, they're watching shows with their "peers" in the O.C. (or listening to 16-year-old pop stars) living the adult-style life of luxury they're "supposed" to be living.
When you grow up constantly being told that being grown-up means buying stuff, and that you have to have the biggest and best widgets to feel good, it gets to the point that owning anything less than an Escalade would feel like conceding failure (socially, at least). "What would Mischa Barton drive?" That's what's going on here.
I'm 24, and thus right about in the middle of this generation. Although the kids share some blame for buying into it, and adults share some blame for raising their kids with TV as a babysitter, this trend is mostly a product of an increasingly consumption-driven pop culture. It's for the same reason, I think, that my generation is so politically apathetic and shows little interest in the outdoors and the arts--we've been brought up with "buying stuff" as our hobby. Anyone want to go to the mall?...
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Nate Wesley 12:21PM (5/08/2006)
Not only does Levin's daughter sound like a brat, she doesn't sound terribly bright. Assuming the Taurus she rejected was built after 2000, she's passed on a "boring" yet reliable vehicle with good fit and finish inside, not to mention ample space for her Abercrombie & Fitch purchases and her equally vain friends. The Taurus also would've been a better bargain not only on gas, but insurance and maintenance as well.
I was afraid to go where hj (#11) treaded, but I can at least agree that there's been some spineless parenting going on. Levin should've made his daughter earn towards the car she wanted.
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Ferguson McSqueege 12:21PM (5/08/2006)
I'm a college-aged kid, and I got to see just how spoiled most kids are this past school year.
Tell me, why does your kid need a Boxster S, Saleen S281, Escalade, X5, or M-B? I made do on a road bike, and am in better shape because of it as well. When their parents buy them everything, it does not help them in the real world when they actually have to pay for their own luxuries. They trash the cars, ask for more, and don't realize how lucky they are.
These are the kids that when they graduate, they go into massive credit card debt, bankruptcy, and other financial troubles because they finally have to finance their "expected" high-luxury lifestyle that had been given to them in the past.
I wish more of my college friends understood that you shouldn't expect much out of college...you start towards the bottom then have to earn my way to the top. Nothing is simply "given" to you in the real world.
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