"youth" cars

[TRDman]

I think there's something similar on here somewhere, but it occured to me that carmakers are approaching this whole "youth market" thing wrong. Most youths, when given the choice, would want to drive a (say) Jeep or a Civic Si or something with "character"/perfomormance. Like it or not, 95% of people under the lucrative age of (what is it?) 25 are not "active" and have no need for a wagon like a Vibe or Element or Scion (which just plays at being a wagon, honestly). Look at the people here on GenVibe, which would surely be biased towards youth. Young people (Generations X and Y and whatever this new one is) don't want to drive boxes! Do they? Anybody have any thoughts?

[Sputnik]

Quote, originally posted by TRDman »I think there's something similar on here somewhere, but it occured to me that carmakers are approaching this whole "youth market" thing wrong. Most youths, when given the choice, would want to drive a (say) Jeep or a Civic Si or something with "character"/perfomormance. Like it or not, 95% of people under the lucrative age of (what is it?) 25 are not "active" and have no need for a wagon like a Vibe or Element or Scion (which just plays at being a wagon, honestly). Look at the people here on GenVibe, which would surely be biased towards youth. Young people (Generations X and Y and whatever this new one is) don't want to drive boxes! Do they? Anybody have any thoughts? People under the age of 25 aren't active!? Snowboarding, skiing, surfing, hockey gear... I'd say thats mostly being done by the youths and not the elders...I'm 29 and got my vibe when I was 26 and I love it.

[Kari]

Quote, originally posted by TRDman »Like it or not, 95% of people under the lucrative age of (what is it?) 25 are not "active" and have no need for a wagon like a Vibe or Element or Scion (which just plays at being a wagon, honestly). Look at the people here on GenVibe, which would surely be biased towards youth. Young people (Generations X and Y and whatever this new one is) don't want to drive boxes! Do they? Uh...that seems kind of contradictory. So you're saying the people on GenVibe are young, yet people under the age of 25 are not active and don't need a wagon like the Vibe?The audience for Vibes as well as Elements, xBs, etc., is fairly broad in age regardless of who they are marketed toward. But I would definitely say those under 25 could certainly be considered a more "active" group on the whole than some other age groups. There are always exceptions but I'm curious as to why you think young people aren't active. (And if they aren't active, why they would prefer Jeeps to Vibes?)

[djb383]

Dude, I'm 55 and when I get behind the wheel of my Vibe, I feel 25. Since the seats are nice and high, it's easy to get into and out of when your 55.

[mcgusto82]

i find it odd that ALMOST all the vibes i see on the road are driven by old people. when i say old, i mean old looking. the whole gray hair thing, you know. yet the vibe is marketed to the young market.but i also think that the youth market IS the activity market. i'm always thinking about where to take the vibe, how to pack it with crap and GO. lol i think you are confusing yourself. there is a youth market that can include the ages span between 23 to 29. those are the activity goers.then there is the tuner market, civics and such fall under. those cars are marketed to a younger crowd. there is also more to it than age that determeines who the car is marketed to. civics and jeeps are NOT marketed to the same people.p.s. a civic is NOT an attitude statement.

[scherry2]

Quote, originally posted by TRDman » Most youths, when given the choice, would want to drive a (say) Jeep or civic si your covering a pretty broad market from sport compact to truck Quote, originally posted by TRDman »Young people (Generations X and Y and whatever this new one is) don't want to drive boxes! jeeps are one of the most basic squared off designs that follow the box design since (say) the 1950's

[joholste]

i know quite a few young guys like me at fort bragg that own vibes/matrixes, and i've got two friends that are looking into buying one after they saw what i've done with mine to personalize it

[Houston]

Quote, originally posted by mcgusto82 »ALMOST all the vibes i see on the road are driven by old people. when i say old, i mean old looking. the whole gray hair thing, you know. yet the vibe is marketed to the young market. I understand what you mean about that gray haired business, as that's mostly who I see driving Vibes, too. I'm 63 and talked my buddie (69) into buying a Vibe. We both love our Vibes. Although the Vibe may have been advertized on TV aimed at younger people, I've never seen a Vibe commercial at all.I'm thinking about getting that great Solstice next fall when they come out with the big one at a price most of us can afford. Bright red, yet. Now that's my kind of car. It I do, that's when I sell my Grand Prix GTP. That's red, too. Just like my Vibe.We get old only if we allow it. I don't. And yet many of you make fun of old folks for staying young. Wait 'till you get here and we'll see what you do.Then, too, maybe all you younguns are driving an old folks car.

[Merzbow]

I think you are for the most part accurate. Today's youth is not very active, if you mean physically.I also think you are right in saying most young people would not want a wagon. I for one ABSOLUTELY HATED Vibes with a passion until I was conned into test driving one with mommy. Once I sat in it and drove it I fell in love instantly. Most kids want speed or ruggedness i.e. HUGE trucks/jeeps with 35 inch tires or camaros/turbo 4cyl. I can say this becuase I am 18 and I think I have an idea of what kids like me want (removed). They need me running the design program at GM I think it's useless targeting kids because most kids would not be able to afford an $18,000 brand new car (my mom bought mine). Secondly, if they had $18,000 they probably wouldn't buy a new car because honestly there aren't too many new cars out now under $30,000 worth buying, atleast from the type of cars I'm interested in. I know if I had $18,000 for a car, I would have either bought the '88 Monte Carlo SS I was looking at and used the left over $15,000 to drop a blown 454 in it and a winter car, or I would have bought a 3000gt for $10,000 and used the $8000 left for a winter car and a pair of bigger turbos.

[Sputnik]

Quote, originally posted by Merzbow » I can say this becuase I am 18 and I think I have an idea of what kids like me want (removed). They need me running the design program at GM I agree with your comments for the most part however, I really don't think GM is targetting teens with car ads. I think they are targetting the 20 somethings. They know most teens aren't buying brand new cars. And I think teens and 20 somethings are very different. Yes I think 20 somethings are more active than teens and yes they might be looking for more room in a car (some might be starting families).

[Baltovibe]

Reminds me of this article at http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=4919

[mcgusto82]

Quote, originally posted by Sputnik »And I think teens and 20 somethings are very different. Yes I think 20 somethings are more active than teens and yes they might be looking for more room in a car (some might be starting families). the exact reason i bought my vibe. wife got preggers. loli also used to just want a usd car and modding it up. after a few lemons (lol) i learned i'd be better with a new car. it all came after i turned 20.actually if i was in the market right now, i wouldn't consider a civic and such. not even the vibe. don't get me wtong, i love the vibe. it has been a great car to me. but as age piles on you, you expect more for your money. (grand prix GXP)

[Merzbow]

Yeha I think you're right. Teens don't need a car to haul stuff. I mean, if they are going away to college maybe they will utilize the storage space a couple of times, but I am living at home while going to school so I do not need the space. I think I've only had to fold the seats down twice to move stuff (file cabinet and dishwasher). Other than that the only reason I needed to fold down the seats was for entertainment

[TRDman]

Quote, originally posted by Kari »Uh...that seems kind of contradictory. So you're saying the people on GenVibe are young, yet people under the age of 25 are not active and don't need a wagon like the Vibe?The audience for Vibes as well as Elements, xBs, etc., is fairly broad in age regardless of who they are marketed toward. But I would definitely say those under 25 could certainly be considered a more "active" group on the whole than some other age groups. There are always exceptions but I'm curious as to why you think young people aren't active. (And if they aren't active, why they would prefer Jeeps to Vibes?) Yeah, I admit it wasn't really thought out all that well. I was just ranting. As far as the "active" thing... realistically it's true that more young people are active than the older set, but (this is what I should have said in the first place) the amount, in total, that's active in that age group is still too low overall to warrent the amount of attention it gets from manufacturerers.