Cars for the Young Take a Detour

[Guest Josh]

It wasn't until Jim Tudor got his new Honda Element that he noticed a quirk in its design. Why was the boxy vehicle's sunroof over the empty back seat instead of his spot up front?

"I found out that it's supposed to be for my surfboard," said Tudor, 56, who is the grandfather of two and never surfs anywhere but the Internet. "It was really only after the fact, when I started doing a little reading on the car, that I found out I wasn't supposed to be the one driving it."

It turns out many of the people buying the Element — which looks like a cross between a minivan and a Hummer — aren't the young surfers and mountain bikers Honda Motor Co. expected. It's the same for many buyers of Toyota Motor Corp.'s Scion models.

Those vehicles were designed and pitched by automakers to capture the hearts and dollars of buyers in their 20s or even younger.

But a funny thing happened on the cars' way to the youth market — people in their 40s, 50s, or 60s found that the vehicles suited their lifestyles too.

Honda was "hoping to get parents to buy it for their kids. It didn't work out that way," said Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing Research, which tracks consumer spending. "The parents who bought it decided they wanted it. The whole car got hijacked by the baby boomers."

The demand for these cars from older buyers has thrown a small curve to Honda, Toyota and others trying to broaden their appeal and build allegiance with customers who will be key to their future business. Automakers are hardly upset that boomers are buying their youth-themed cars. On the contrary, they are happy to sell cars to whoever wants one, manufacturers say.

But the embrace by drivers across the age spectrum of models such as the Element, the Scion xB and the Vibe from General Motors Corp.'s Pontiac brand reveals some of the unpredictable features of the marketplace. Mainly, that in this age of highly targeted marketing and myriad product choices, customers will often make purchases that fit their lifestyles and self-image, even if it's not exactly what the manufacturer had in mind.

Take Tudor, who lives in Newborn, Ga., and drives 40,000 miles a year for his job running a state trade association. He never opens the sunroof on his Element. He has no intention of sleeping in the vehicle, although the seats are designed to fold back for exactly that purpose.

Full Story: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-boom...0,7914993.story

[91z4me]

Those vehicles were designed and pitched by automakers to capture the hearts and dollars of buyers in their 20s or even younger.

[post="66336"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

No they weren't. They are designed and marketed to the youth because manufactures know you can't sell an old mans car to a young person but you can sell a young person's car to an old man. They knew they were going after the older segment from the start.

[Guest Josh]

The last sentance has be still laughing. The Honda Elderment...blahahaha

[91z4me]

The last sentance has be still laughing. The Honda Elderment...blahahaha

[post="66350"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

I think that is just about as good as the Ridgerunt.

[Cremazie]

I think that is just about as good as the Ridgerunt.

[post="66380"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

I liked Fridgeline better :P

[mustang84]

I knew these cars weren't selling to young people...every Scion I have seen has been driven by a middle-aged baby boomer. Same with the Element. One man I saw driving a Scion xB looked like he was in his 70s. Twentysomethings generally don't have the money for a new car, and if they do, they don't want a rolling box on wheels.

[Satty]

Some of you are looking at this all wrong. It doesn't matter how old the buyer is, just that there are buyers. People are going out and buying Elements and xBs and the cars, in spite of their goofy looks, are getting positive press.This article pretty much says that the Element was supposedly designed for younger people but people of all ages are buying them for several reasons. And the Element, with its hose-out floors, room to lay down and giant openings created by the suicide doors, would be a perfect designated-driver car.

[PurdueGuy]

And the Element, with its hose-out floors, room to lay down and giant openings created by the suicide doors, would be a perfect designated-driver car.

[post="66433"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

:) It's funny because it's true... lol

[G. David Felt]

<_< Yea, but they still are Butt Uggly or Fuggly! :P

[regfootball]

i like the element but its interior cheapness, horrible mpg, lack of power, and user unfriendly seat belt setups bug me. i love the bed/seats but they ought to make the seats pull out entirely or fold into the floor. I would ease up on the boxiness of the front windshield. the rear needs to stay boxy to accomodate cargo. i think the element is much more useful than a PT Cruiser but they need to fix the seat belt issue in the rear and pretty up the interior some. the vehicle needs to lose 200 pounds, gain a real motor too. Edited January 3, 2006 by regfootball

[ponchoman49]

And I thought it was the older people that were supposed to be the smarter ones. Buying boxes with lawn mower engines, ugly uncoordinated black plastic slapped on wherever you look and cheap/hideous interiors with childish center pod dashes and airplane harsh seat materials hardly seems smart. I once rode in a Scion xBox in the passenger seat and laughed my ass off the whole time thinking my 10 year old son could have designed something better than this!