Generation Y, or the Millennial Generation has always sounded to me like some sort of mutated species of beings that will replace us all, even though I technically fit the age criteria for this. It's usually looked at as some sort of marketing game that companies trying to sell us stuff play in order to disguise the fact that they are offering a strange product. After all, a BMW 6-Series can be enjoyed by a 26 years old just as well as a 62 year old. A good car is a good car, and that should be the end of it, right?
The 18 to 20-something year olds don’t have a unique identity, like the ideologies shared in the 1960. They don’t have religious aspirations, and their tech-savvy attitude doesn’t actually translate into growth, since time is wasted on World of Warcraft of the latest Xbox games.
But the biggest problem posed by the Millennials is that they aren’t all that hardworking. You see, back in the day the young man fixed cars, washed trucks and generally got his hands dirty, but he knew what he wanted from an automotive point of view - your base pony car, like a Camaro or Mustang that he cold grease up his hair in.
But I look at the Gen Y, fresh out of good schools, and most can’t hold on to a job, not even a sub-par one. Your average 18-year old coming from middle class (or upper-middle class) family is more concerned about the latest iPhone and what supercar his favorite footballer drives, leaving him depressed with his lack of ridiculous wealth.
So what cars do you sell to the Millennials? Chevy seems to be on to something, since it called the Tru 140S Concept that just landed in detroit an “affordable exotic” four-seat sporty coupe. I kid you not! Now doesn’t hat sound like something a rapper or footballer wants?
Added to the rising price of gas, Gen Y buyers are struggling with low wages and very tight credit. In fact, if lived like that, my car would better have a tuned exhaust, otherwise i’d feel really depressed with my 18-year old pimples and do something drastic with my life. See what I did there? That’s probably how marketing teams think - no money, no gas, no problem because we can fix you right up!
With so many car that I personally thought GM would never bring to America, Chevrolet is clearly wanting to set itself up to become the new Millennial Generation carmaker of choice. There’s the new Spark and Sonic, a really compact Buick crossover and now a pair of fresh concepts with names that sound like videogame cheats: the Code 130R and Tru 140S.
“This buyer prizes connectivity. Allowing them to stay connected by integrating their personal devices through MyLink and WiFi enabling the vehicle to be their own docking station,” said Frank Saucedo, director of the GM North America Advanced Design studio in Los Angeles where the two concepts were developed. Doesn’t this sound just like the car for somebody with too many pimples and a strong love for apps?
If Chevy has done their homework right, this is what the Camaro of today looks like… on paper at least. The automaker says it’s talked with a whole bunch of Gen Y members, and they all wanted a car that looks really cool, sounds decent, does ridiculous mpg and costs next to nothing to buy.
It might look nothing like a what they drive in those viral drifting videos, but most young people would rather have thins than a beater of an old compact sedan. If they can afford the $20,000 price Chevy is considering, than they will be happy.
What’s that you say about speed? Well gas is expensive and so are fuel-saving technologies, and speeding laws are ridiculously more strict than they were in the 60s. Top speed and quarter mile times will probably be replaced by plenty of features or a decent handling chassis. How do I know this? Just look at the Scion FR-S, the Japanese have also done their homework.
If Chevrolet’s objective is to get younger people to jump on board and find out that they identify with that Cross-flag sports car heritage, than that’s all fine and dandy. But it’s all a bit fishy. Some people I know might say that they want a two-door coupe, but very few actually ever buy such a car.
So I think that the marketing and sales guys gut it a bit wrong here. Instead of looking directly into the market for what cars are selling, they created what sounds like a virtual young people, all wanting the same car. Still, the Bowtie Brand will continue to be a player in the market due to the price. Even when times were good, this age group was very pretty rarely buying new cars, which is what got Scion into trouble. The Tru 140S looks like an Opel coupe in disguise, and i like that, but let’s not get too shallow with this graffiti and baseball cap attitude.
But the biggest problem posed by the Millennials is that they aren’t all that hardworking. You see, back in the day the young man fixed cars, washed trucks and generally got his hands dirty, but he knew what he wanted from an automotive point of view - your base pony car, like a Camaro or Mustang that he cold grease up his hair in.
But I look at the Gen Y, fresh out of good schools, and most can’t hold on to a job, not even a sub-par one. Your average 18-year old coming from middle class (or upper-middle class) family is more concerned about the latest iPhone and what supercar his favorite footballer drives, leaving him depressed with his lack of ridiculous wealth.
So what cars do you sell to the Millennials? Chevy seems to be on to something, since it called the Tru 140S Concept that just landed in detroit an “affordable exotic” four-seat sporty coupe. I kid you not! Now doesn’t hat sound like something a rapper or footballer wants?
Added to the rising price of gas, Gen Y buyers are struggling with low wages and very tight credit. In fact, if lived like that, my car would better have a tuned exhaust, otherwise i’d feel really depressed with my 18-year old pimples and do something drastic with my life. See what I did there? That’s probably how marketing teams think - no money, no gas, no problem because we can fix you right up!
With so many car that I personally thought GM would never bring to America, Chevrolet is clearly wanting to set itself up to become the new Millennial Generation carmaker of choice. There’s the new Spark and Sonic, a really compact Buick crossover and now a pair of fresh concepts with names that sound like videogame cheats: the Code 130R and Tru 140S.
“This buyer prizes connectivity. Allowing them to stay connected by integrating their personal devices through MyLink and WiFi enabling the vehicle to be their own docking station,” said Frank Saucedo, director of the GM North America Advanced Design studio in Los Angeles where the two concepts were developed. Doesn’t this sound just like the car for somebody with too many pimples and a strong love for apps?
If Chevy has done their homework right, this is what the Camaro of today looks like… on paper at least. The automaker says it’s talked with a whole bunch of Gen Y members, and they all wanted a car that looks really cool, sounds decent, does ridiculous mpg and costs next to nothing to buy.
It might look nothing like a what they drive in those viral drifting videos, but most young people would rather have thins than a beater of an old compact sedan. If they can afford the $20,000 price Chevy is considering, than they will be happy.
What’s that you say about speed? Well gas is expensive and so are fuel-saving technologies, and speeding laws are ridiculously more strict than they were in the 60s. Top speed and quarter mile times will probably be replaced by plenty of features or a decent handling chassis. How do I know this? Just look at the Scion FR-S, the Japanese have also done their homework.
If Chevrolet’s objective is to get younger people to jump on board and find out that they identify with that Cross-flag sports car heritage, than that’s all fine and dandy. But it’s all a bit fishy. Some people I know might say that they want a two-door coupe, but very few actually ever buy such a car.
So I think that the marketing and sales guys gut it a bit wrong here. Instead of looking directly into the market for what cars are selling, they created what sounds like a virtual young people, all wanting the same car. Still, the Bowtie Brand will continue to be a player in the market due to the price. Even when times were good, this age group was very pretty rarely buying new cars, which is what got Scion into trouble. The Tru 140S looks like an Opel coupe in disguise, and i like that, but let’s not get too shallow with this graffiti and baseball cap attitude.
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