More Millennials Want Sedans but Older Generations Can’t Stop Buying SUVs
05-25-19, 02:09 PM
#1
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
More Millennials Want Sedans but Older Generations Can’t Stop Buying SUVs
It's just one "study", so I don't know how much stock I put in it. But if the categories of customers with higher spending power want SUVs, it would explain recent market shifts by GM and Ford.
https://www.thedrive.com/news/28192/...ing-suvs-study
https://www.thedrive.com/news/28192/...ing-suvs-study
Sedans may be disappearing from automakers' lineups, but don't default to the lazy American standby of blaming young people for everything wrong with the world. A new study has found that young people are more likely than older folks to buy a sedan as their next vehicle.
Nissan surveyed a group of Americans between the ages of 18 and 65, comprised of both car owners and non-owners, and found that young buyers' preferences aren't what's wrong with the car market. In total, 78 percent of those surveyed who don't own a sedan said they'd consider buying one, but that number was dragged upward by strong interest in the body style among younger generations.
Of Gen Z and younger Millennials in the 18-34 age bracket, 86 percent said they'd be willing to consider buying a sedan when they're in the market for a vehicle, though the number dips as ages rise. Eighty-one percent of older Millennials and members of Generation X (ages 35-50) admitted they'd consider buying sedans, though no figures were given for Americans older than 50—older Gen Xers and Baby Boomers. Going by the fact that Americans under 50 want sedans at rates above the study's average, the implications are obvious: it's the older generations that are turning their nose up at normal four-door cars.
And it's the older, wealthier Baby Boomers that are buying the majority of new cars, according to Hedges & Company. Sixty-two percent of new cars are sold to this aging generation, and 15 of 25 new models recommended to seniors by Consumer Reports last year are crossovers, so if there is anyone to point at as the cause of sedans going by the wayside, it's the people who actually buy cars. You can't entirely blame them for wanting vehicles that are easier to get into and out of, but you don't have to turn the other cheek when they aim the blame for disappearing sedans at you, younger gens.
Nissan surveyed a group of Americans between the ages of 18 and 65, comprised of both car owners and non-owners, and found that young buyers' preferences aren't what's wrong with the car market. In total, 78 percent of those surveyed who don't own a sedan said they'd consider buying one, but that number was dragged upward by strong interest in the body style among younger generations.
Of Gen Z and younger Millennials in the 18-34 age bracket, 86 percent said they'd be willing to consider buying a sedan when they're in the market for a vehicle, though the number dips as ages rise. Eighty-one percent of older Millennials and members of Generation X (ages 35-50) admitted they'd consider buying sedans, though no figures were given for Americans older than 50—older Gen Xers and Baby Boomers. Going by the fact that Americans under 50 want sedans at rates above the study's average, the implications are obvious: it's the older generations that are turning their nose up at normal four-door cars.
And it's the older, wealthier Baby Boomers that are buying the majority of new cars, according to Hedges & Company. Sixty-two percent of new cars are sold to this aging generation, and 15 of 25 new models recommended to seniors by Consumer Reports last year are crossovers, so if there is anyone to point at as the cause of sedans going by the wayside, it's the people who actually buy cars. You can't entirely blame them for wanting vehicles that are easier to get into and out of, but you don't have to turn the other cheek when they aim the blame for disappearing sedans at you, younger gens.
05-25-19, 02:17 PM
#2
Lexus Fanatic
There is still a place for sedans. However, older people likely will move to crossovers for the simple reason is that they are easier to enter and exit. Those big boats like the Ladeosse, XTS or Avalon will have a very limited appeal in the future.
05-25-19, 06:05 PM
#4
Lexus Fanatic
Absolutely. A lot more than the media and auto marketers are telling us.
For taller old people, yes, to some extent. But I've had short elderly people (women, more so than men) come to me and ask me my recommendations for vehicles that sit very low to the ground and still fit their needs.....they simply find most crossovers and small SUVs too tall for them to get in and out of easily...even more so with larger SUVs. One woman I know (I sometimes swim with her) keeps an old Mercedes SLK two-seater roaster as her daily driver, simply because it is so low and easy for her to get in and out of at her age.
Never heard of that one. 
Big boats? LOL. They aren't really that big. The luxury cars I grew up with...now THAT's big.
Not only that, but, as the present not-so-old people grow older (and nobody can beat the clock)...those full-size (by today's standards) sedans will look more and more desirable to them.
However, older people likely will move to crossovers for the simple reason is that they are easier to enter and exit.
Those big boats like the Ladeosse, XTS or Avalon will have a very limited appeal in the future.
Big boats? LOL. They aren't really that big. The luxury cars I grew up with...now THAT's big.
Not only that, but, as the present not-so-old people grow older (and nobody can beat the clock)...those full-size (by today's standards) sedans will look more and more desirable to them.
Last edited by mmarshall; 05-25-19 at 06:11 PM.
05-25-19, 06:26 PM
#5
Lexus Fanatic
As for the idea of Baby Boomers buying the lion's share of SUVs, again, I take that with a grain of salt. We see a huge number of small crossover SUVs bought and driven by suburban mothers that are considerably younger than Baby Boomers, most of whom are now in their 60s to early 70s. The article is accurate, though, in one sense.....that, in general, the Boomers are the ones with the most money to spend. They entered the job market in relatively good economic times (60s/early 70s), earned large incomes, saved for decades, and often have employer-funded retirement pensions in addition to Social Security and their 401Ks.
05-26-19, 06:11 AM
#6
My 68 year old sister is an example. She has hip problems and was fed up with driving their Jeep Grand Cherokee and Honda Accord. One was too high and one too low to get into. Whenever she would ride with a friend with a lower height SUV she would be like why don’t I have one. She sold their perfectly fine low mileage Accord for a new Kia Sportage 2.0Turbo. I personally have always been a car guy. I never wanted to drive a truck or suv full time. An suv today excluding the full size variants are just sensible cars. A little more ground clearance and visibility. My low car days are behind me except for rentals. My wife on the other hand wants a full size suv but I put the kibosh on that.
Last edited by Kennyr44; 05-26-19 at 06:30 AM.
05-26-19, 07:47 AM
#7
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
My low car days are behind me except for rentals.
My wife on the other hand wants a full size suv but I put the kibosh on that.
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05-26-19, 08:30 AM
#8
Exactly, and cuv’s are just tall small vehicles. They sell like hotcakes... rav4, crv, encore, sportage, tucson, escape, and on and on...
I went back to a sedan this last time around and it’s wonderful, but i do miss the large boxy cargo room in the back and folding rear seats. But my sedan has VASTLY more rear seat leg room than my jeep grand cherokee did, and that’s something i really appreciate, so if i go suv next time, i’ll be looking carefully at passenger space because i hate having to move the front seats forward and backwards before and after each time i need more than 1 passenger seat!
You put the kibosh on that huh? Not very PC these days.
I went back to a sedan this last time around and it’s wonderful, but i do miss the large boxy cargo room in the back and folding rear seats. But my sedan has VASTLY more rear seat leg room than my jeep grand cherokee did, and that’s something i really appreciate, so if i go suv next time, i’ll be looking carefully at passenger space because i hate having to move the front seats forward and backwards before and after each time i need more than 1 passenger seat!
You put the kibosh on that huh? Not very PC these days.
Last edited by bitkahuna; 05-26-19 at 08:59 AM.
05-26-19, 09:20 AM
#9
Lexus Fanatic
05-26-19, 06:59 PM
#11
Lexus Champion
It's just one "study", so I don't know how much stock I put in it. But if the categories of customers with higher spending power want SUVs, it would explain recent market shifts by GM and Ford.
https://www.thedrive.com/news/28192/...ing-suvs-study
https://www.thedrive.com/news/28192/...ing-suvs-study
This theory has been used to explain the drop in station wagon sales, to be replaced by minivans -- the families buying minivans in the 1980s and 1990s grew up in their parents' station wagons.
This theory has also been used to explain the drop in minivan sales, to be replaced by sport and crossover utility vehicles -- the families buying SUVs and CUVs in the 2000s and 2010s grew up in their parents' minivans.
And Millenials, having grown up in their parents' minivans and CUVs, may prefer some other, different type of vehicle.
It may not be that simple -- there are certainly other factors in play -- but it does fit the theory. It also fits the theory that the popularity of a certain type of vehicle (station wagon, minivan, utility vehicle) is a trend, and trends grow, stabilize and eventually taper off.
05-27-19, 04:56 AM
#12
I've had a CUV since 2001, a Lexus RX300. Will never have anything else. A trend? I think it's past that now.
I also don't remember Station Wagons being that popular in my youth. My family never had one or any of our neighbors. It's a myth all families had one.
I also don't remember Station Wagons being that popular in my youth. My family never had one or any of our neighbors. It's a myth all families had one.
05-27-19, 05:57 AM
#13
Lexus Fanatic
And a number of Millenials, today, are apparently not interested in vehicles at all. They use Lyft, or Uber, or, in some cases, still ride with their parents.
05-27-19, 08:18 AM
#14
It's just one study. I am a generation z and I do agree that we tend to gravitate toward the kind of vehicles our parent drive. But it just really depend on the individual. I prefer sport sedan/coupe over SUV.
05-27-19, 09:07 AM
#15
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
I don't know where you lived, but it wasn't a myth in my neighborhood in the 80s, before minivans. Yes, just about everyone had one.