Gen Y - Why what they want matters

[nissangirl74]

The Big 3 are scared. They know that many young drivers stick with the brand they choose for their first car throughout their lives. A recent poll shows that Gen Y drivers didn't place any of the Big 3 companies in their top ten choice of brands to buy. (Nissan was number 4.) The article suggest different factors as to why but the two main ones were price and options. The article is good, and gives some good numbers, but the REAL information is contained in the comments posted at the end.

"then lower your friggin prices. God. Car assembly lines are mostly robotic anyways. 30k for a standard car? I can't pay for my freakin insurance and you want me to hand over 30k for a car? Yeah your living the dream... I sure am not.p"

"Price yourself out of the market suffer the consequences. If people can't get financing for your cars they aren't buying duh....Sit on your charter jets & leather chairs driving luxury cars with no idea what people want or can afford."

"Well I work at one of the busiest Airports in the USA. One evening we counted 100 cars in the premium parking lot. What we found was that over 75% of the cars parked by travelers were Asian and German Vehicles. American Consumers aren't the problem, the Big 3 are. They better wake up."

"i'm 22 and i just bought a used toyota because of the price. there are no jobs, we pretty much have no retirement with the way the economy looks right now and forget about ever having social security. We're not going to make the same mistakes our parents did by swimming in a pool of debt"

http://autos.yahoo.com/news/trouble-for ... reign.html

What do you guys think? Gen Y members: is there any new car coming from the Big 3 that appeals to you enough to consider buying one of them? Is price the main issue when you go to buy a car or is it brand loyalty or is it something else?

Your thoughts?

[Jesda]

Gen Y is worthless.



Apparently they're the only age group buying crappy Mitsubishis. Anyone with a lick of wisdom abandoned Mitsu years ago. I wonder if its because Mitsubishi is continuing its practice of loaning money to anyone who asks? That got them into big trouble last time, and I can't otherwise think of any reason why someone would buy a Lancer over a Cruze, Mazda 3, Civic, or Focus.

And really, I cant think of any reason for buying a new Yaris over something lightly used and much nicer.







Otherwise, yes, without wider choices of small cars, manufacturers will lose access to a generation of buyers.

[MinisterofDOOM]

The problem is that Gen Y are entitled idiots. Those comments you posted prove it. NONE of those kids know s*** about cars. And the pricing comments are bizarre, considering that Cruzes and Focuses aren't any more expensive than Fortes or Civics. My cousin's boyfriend just spent $20k on a Forte. For $20k you can get a LOT of Focus. I like the Forte a lot, but I think once Ford figures out the DCT programming the Focus will be a much more desirable car.

The comment about a standard is especially retarded. Automatic transmissions are NOT upgrades. They're alternatives. Only in America do people view them as some kind of plague you have to pay extra to avoid.

[Bubba1]

Gen Y is worthless.



Apparently they're the only age group buying crappy Mitsubishis. Anyone with a lick of wisdom abandoned Mitsu years ago. I wonder if its because Mitsubishi is continuing its practice of loaning money to anyone who asks? That got them into big trouble last time, and I can't otherwise think of any reason why someone would buy a Lancer over a Cruze, Mazda 3, Civic, or Focus.

And really, I cant think of any reason for buying a new Yaris over something lightly used and much nicer.







Otherwise, yes, without wider choices of small cars, manufacturers will lose access to a generation of buyers.

I think the big 3 are still focusing too much on us more affluent baby boomers and our buying power at the expense of Gen Y. which is undeerstandable as thats where the short term profits are. It's an old short sighted strategy,.
Us baby boomers and some of older Gen X are the ones buying the expensive 500 hp caddy's, mustangs, camaro's, big full sized hybrid SUV's. Since they make more profit on one hybrid monstrocity than on 5 subcompacts, the big 3 are gonna try to gonna milk the cash cow as long as they can. I foresee another bailout coming, as we're getting older and retiring...

[MinisterofDOOM]

I think it's foolish to focus on ATTRACTING customers over RETAINING customers. Word of mouth means more than anything, as Toyota and the Big 3 can attest for opposite reasons. It's not new buyers you should worry about. It's repeat buyers.

You don't compensate for hemorraging blood by keeping a constant supply of blood packs on hand. You fix the wound. Same for car buyers. The solution is NOT attracting new buyers. It's keeping the ones you have. Once you do THAT, the new buyer problem follows suit. If people want to keep your cars, they'll tell people. And THAT is where your fresh blood comes from.

It's the same issue as focusing on initial quality over long term dependability, only on a macro scale. Attracting people to the purchase is not enough. You need to make them HAPPY with the purchase. Customers are not disposable. You can't mulligan. You need to do it right the first time, but you also need to do it right the second time. And the third. And EVERY time.

100 customers who love their car are better than 1000 who hate it.

Monthly sales only impress management. They have no value to consumers.

[ADDirishboy]

l

What do you guys think? Gen Y members: is there any new car coming from the Big 3 that appeals to you enough to consider buying one of them? Is price the main issue when you go to buy a car or is it brand loyalty or is it something else?

Your thoughts?

I'd be willing to buy a few vehicles that Ford offers. Focus RS if they offered it, Mustang, F150, Raptor, etc. Ford doesn't offer the RS here though, and a new F150/Raptor are out of my price range. With the Mustang, I could afford the V6 but not the GT.

Dodge doesn't make anything I really want. Chevy has the Camaro and the 'Vette and that's about it. Again, I could afford the V6 Camaro, and the 'Vette is way out of my price range.

But now let's look at the imports. Nothing in Audi/BMW/MB's lineup is affordable to me. I don't want anything from Toyota except a Tacoma, and new one's are pricey in any sort of trim that's actually useful.

Nissan doesn't offer a whole lot in my price range that I actually want either. The Z is out of my range, and so is anything from Infiniti. The Frontier has the same problem as the Tacoma. Affordable in the lowest level trim, but what's the point of that?

Kia, meh. Not anything I'm too fond of there. Same with Mitsubishi.

Hyundai has the Genesis Coupe that I would definitely go for, and is within my range and is a pretty good little car.

So really, the only things in my price range are the V6 Mustang, V6 Camaro, and the Genesis Coupe. And out of those I would probably go with the Mustang.

This is only for brand new cars though.

[AZ89two4Tsx]

Meh, right now, realistically, the only thing I would consider buying from the big 3 is a full sized truck/suv. Those are the only things I think they're good at making anymore.

Yeah, sure, Cadillacs are nice, but honestly, there's plenty of substitutes offered by non-American car makers.

[Dattebayo]

Who cares about new cars? Seriously, less than 1/3 of the users here probably have new cars. Hell, it maybe be less than 1/4!

The thing that all new car manufacturers don't think about is that new cars aren't made at the rate that old ones leave the street.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I don't think the big 3 are scared. I've worked with them in the past, and they all seem to think that everything is great. Nobody ever really wants to tell it how it is.

Chrysler should be scared. The other 2 should do all right. They really aren't overpriced at all, and quality is on par with anyone else. There really isn't any reason not to buy some of the vehicles from 2 of the big 3 right now. Chrysler should still be avoided like the farkin plague. We should have let those bastards sink.

[Jesda]

I think it's foolish to focus on ATTRACTING customers over RETAINING customers. Word of mouth means more than anything, as Toyota and the Big 3 can attest for opposite reasons. It's not new buyers you should worry about. It's repeat buyers.

You don't compensate for hemorraging blood by keeping a constant supply of blood packs on hand. You fix the wound. Same for car buyers. The solution is NOT attracting new buyers. It's keeping the ones you have. Once you do THAT, the new buyer problem follows suit. If people want to keep your cars, they'll tell people. And THAT is where your fresh blood comes from.

It's the same issue as focusing on initial quality over long term dependability, only on a macro scale. Attracting people to the purchase is not enough. You need to make them HAPPY with the purchase. Customers are not disposable. You can't mulligan. You need to do it right the first time, but you also need to do it right the second time. And the third. And EVERY time.

100 customers who love their car are better than 1000 who hate it.

Monthly sales only impress management. They have no value to consumers.

Yes to the above.

[Loki]

Gen Y is worthless.



Apparently they're the only age group buying crappy Mitsubishis. Anyone with a lick of wisdom abandoned Mitsu years ago. I wonder if its because Mitsubishi is continuing its practice of loaning money to anyone who asks? That got them into big trouble last time, and I can't otherwise think of any reason why someone would buy a Lancer over a Cruze, Mazda 3, Civic, or Focus.

And really, I cant think of any reason for buying a new Yaris over something lightly used and much nicer.







Otherwise, yes, without wider choices of small cars, manufacturers will lose access to a generation of buyers.

I bought Mitsubishi two years ago and couldn't be happier. No reliability issues and a terrific picture with excellent contrast! I speak of course of my 73" plasma screen. Got it for a steal.

[PEZi]

The only thing from the big 3 I enjoy is the new F150 with the ecoboost engine. Why would I never buy it? Can't! You want a decently spec'd F150 with the V6 turbo motor and you're looking up close to $40,000..... are you kidding!?!?!? I'm not paying $40k for a tow vehicle/ DD.

I wanted to like the Ford fiesta due to the rally versions... but nothing even close to similar to the rally car is coming out... this is no new Evo. Alternative? Hyundai is in the works of making a turbo version of the Veloster to blow the Fiesta out of the water...

[s0m3th1ngAZ]

Ford is the only company I'd remotely consider buying from. I am actually seriously considering getting a used 5.0 Mustang in the future.

[Ace2cool]

used

Key word here.

[Encryptshun]

I could give two sh*s about the Big 3.

If Gen Y's purchasing habits are so myopic and uneducated that automakers stop producing decent cars, then I'll be the fat dude in the tight t-shirt standing next to my restored 1965 Buick Riviera at "Big Al's Classic Car Cruise 2038".

[s0m3th1ngAZ]

used

Key word here.

Not as much as you think. A good experience with a used car may lead to a future purchase of a brand spankin new one.
But I see what you mean. Many moons ago, in my Dad's time, a 20-something could easily save up enough money and buy a brand new car. Without bendoverandtakeit financing. What changed between then and now?

[themadscientist]

Gen Y wants a hug and a pack of new razor blades. The most pathetic, weak-willed, whiny lumps of jello it has ever been my misfortune to interact with. "what's my motivation?" "I don't feel appreciated." "I'm bored." "I'm sad." "Why are you firing me?"

That being said, they are the future and my generation raised em the way they are so the finger makes a windage change and points at my fellow Gen-Xers. WTF pople? Look at your spineless, entitled, lazy a** kids. Well done....

I've met a few real thinkers in the Y crowd, though. They are very scarce, but when I meet one I always come away hopeful. They are concerned like boomers were without being fruity and hippy-like and they are angry and driven like Xers without being destructive and counterproductive.

I hope there are many more out there than I realize because we need such people in the future. The boomers had their chance and f*** up. My generation rebelled with indignation, but just turned into a junta and made things worse. Perhaps there are some gen-Yers that can untangle this mess. This old dude is willing to help.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

This old dude is willing to help.

Thanks buddy! I fear what happens when my generation comes to power. I too have met a few really hard working, smart, honest gen Yers, but they are fairly rare.