Daily Auto News Nissan Cube — Targeted At The Young, Popular With The Over 40 Crowd
Daily Auto News
Dad, apparently, loves a big ol’ subwoofer with flashing lights in it. Build a hip new car for the trend-obsessed youth of America, it seems, and you’ll inevitably attract their parents..
USA Today reports, “Car marketers might have shot wide of the mark with the newest small, tall boxes aimed to lure elusive young buyers… Typical buyers of today’s tall, boxy cars,” like the Nissan Cube or Kia Soul, “are in their 40s, twice what you’d think from the cars’ ‘hey, kids’ marketing.” They also boast an average income of over $60,000 a year.
The box-on-wheels segment includes the Cube, the Soul, the Honda Element and the Scion xB. All four models were marketed as eccentric, hip rides for the college-age crowd.
Automakers, according to USA Today, “believed that they must bring in youngsters via inexpensive, cool cars, then keep them and move them up to bigger, more-profitable vehicles as they age.”
But instead, the boxy rides have found popularity with people who can actually afford new cars – often those with college-age children. It’s a result that wasn’t hard to predict. After all, data from industry analysis firm Auto Pacific shows that the average new car buyer is 56 years old. “Younger people don’t have the money,” Auto Pacific analyst Stephanie Brinley tells USA Today.
Autoblog comments, “The practical nature of such a design and its low price are key components of the genre’s success.” They’re small enough to be fuel-efficient and easy to drive, but offer legitimate cargo space not found in small coupes and sedans. “Just as long as somebody is buying them,” Autoblog speculates, “We’re pretty confident the boxy-but-cheap segment is here to stay.”
Whether the vehicles will still feature youthful touches like colored lights in the speakers (Soul), bright interior fabric colors (xB), or shag carpeting (Cube) once automakers realize they’re selling to moms and dads, we can’t say. Then again, the cars are selling. So it ain’t broke…
If you’re in the market for a new car, check out the U.S. News rankings of this year’s best cars as well as this month’s best car deals.
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