A 2010 report from the Earth Policy Institute spelled bad news for America’s car manufacturers: Americans scrapped 4 million more cars and trucks than they purchased in 2009 – the first significant drop in the U.S. auto fleet in more than four decades. But according to The New York Times, this had less to do with a slumping economy and “Cash for Clunkers” than with disinterest among driving-age teens.
“Perhaps the most fundamental social trend affecting the future of the automobile is the declining interest in cars among young people,” says Lester Brown, author of the EPI report.
BLAME IT ON THE INTERNET
“Many of today’s young people living in a more urban society learn to live without cars,” Brown says. “They socialize on the Internet and on smartphones, not in cars.”
Carmakers are in for a rough time. But the automobile collector hobby faces an equally daunting problem: The average age of a historic vehicle hobbyist is 55, and 75 percent of hobbyists are 46 or older.
The aging demographic was just one of the “top threats” to the collector car hobby discussed in an August symposium at The Quail Lodge Golf Club during the famed Monterey Classic Car Week (see sidebar at right).
RISING COSTS, BIGGER HASSLE
For a growing number of people, the cost of owning a car is prohibitively expensive. Add the cost of insuring young drivers, and it’s not hard to imagine why, in a slumping economy, parents are reluctant to pay for an extra vehicle and add a high-risk policyholder.
And recent statistics suggest young people don’t seem to care. According to the most recent U.S. Department of Transportation data, the number of teenagers with licenses, which peaked at 12 million in 1978, is now under 10 million. A whopping 69 percent of 16-year-olds and 51 percent of 17-year-olds did not have their driver’s licenses in 2008.
THE PLEASURE PRINCIPLE
The car used to be a symbol of freedom. People loved the way cars looked and understood how they worked. But modern cars are so complex that the average person needs help just to change the oil. Plus, the message nowadays is that the automobile is slowly killing the planet and that driving for pleasure is a waste of time.
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“We need to get car manufacturers to start supporting car guys again,” Roberts says. “There’s a logical role automakers should play in supporting automotive heritage, and it starts by connecting their brands to younger generations through their promotion of car clubs.”
According to Roberts, this opportunity has not been lost on European automakers, namely Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Mini Cooper. All have departments to preserve and promote their heritage.
“In the end, this is a multifaceted issue that will require a comprehensive approach,” Roberts says. “The need to adequately and proactively address this issue is so compelling that it is one of the major reasons the Historic Vehicle Association was formed. It’s time to transform collecting from a hobby into a worldwide movement.”
http://www.hagerty.ca/classic-car-articles-resources/Magazine/Articles/All-Articles/2010/12/02/No-Hobby-For-Young-Men
