Baby Boomers Throw the Auto Market a Curve

Baby Boomers Throw the Auto Market a Curve

As they have in so many other aspects of life, Americas Baby Boomers now in their late 50s and early 60s are taking a different route than their parents in car buying behavior, even now as they are beginning to retire.

Demographers report Baby Boomers are not opting for the house in the country and the comfortable luxury car their parents strived for, but increasingly are choosing instead to move into central city condominiums and own just one smallish, well-equipped-sedan or crossover vehicle that can fit easily in a parking space.

The industry believes that as much as 24% of the market in 2010 will be controlled by Baby Boomers looking for efficient and sophisticated hatchback and small, wagon-style vehicles with the right blend of versatility and style to suit their new one-car-per-couple, city dweller need.

The trend is not good news for luxury and big car and truck makers, who have already had to resort to significant discounting to maintain reasonable sales levels. Mercedes-Benz, for example, is currently offering discounts of as much as $15,000 on its SL-class and Nissan has a $5,000 discount available on its Titan SUV, to name just two. Other makers, however, look to be better prepared, with models scheduled to be introduced in 2010 that should meet those very needs. They include makers like Ford (Fiesta), GM (Cruz), Mazda (MX2), Suzuki (Kizashi), Volkswagen(City), Audi(A2) and Nissan(Micro), to name just a few. It is unclear, though, if the industry can be profitable selling vehicles of this size at prices in the $17,000 – $23,000 range.