| | | Robert, I think you'd have a hard time finding many Americans under 35 who have a love affair with cars. I know of a couple, but by and large, cars are a means to an end, nothing else.
These are people who grew up riding in minivans and sedans and SUV's. There were few coupes or sports cars in their lives. There were trucks, but that's a whole different vibe than a car.
There was very little street racing for this generation, as insurance penalties and jail time were real consequences rather than the slap on a wrist you got in the 60's and 70's. Also, it's hard to street race in a FWD Honda Civic or Chevy Cobalt.
This generation has also embraced Uber, Lyft, and other ride sharing services. They also like hybrids when practical.
Electric vehicles are coming, and they're going to be here to stay and become most of the light vehicle market. It will not be by government mandate that they'll be widely adopted. It will be by manufacturing economies of scale, lower cost of ownership vs ICE vehicles, and the drive for profit by manufacturers. There is not enough R&D and tooling money to support both electric and ICE platforms under one manufacturing company. Eventually, they have to choose one way, and electric is where things are going. |
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