Midlife Crisis: Corvette or Cayenne?

The midlife crisis car may have switched from the Corvette to the Cayenne.

The Baby Boomer generation is arguably responsible for more Corvette sales than any other generation of Americans, but the aging demographic now appears to prefer more comfortable and practical luxury SUVs to low-slung sports cars.

Will the changing desires of Boomers impact the production of the world’s greatest sports cars?

Things are looking bleak for sports car makers. Sales are down across the board and Ford has even idled its Mustang plant because sales for the year have fallen by about 9 percent. Corvette and Porsche 911 sales have also slumped.

A Bloomberg article says,

While there are still plenty of buyers who love the passing lane, automakers face a pesky reality. Men born between 1946 and 1964, who buy most sports cars, are cruising past their peak spending years. And as age 70 beckons, folding up like an accordion to get into the front seat of a speedy roadster is hardly the prescription for an aching back. Some are even turning to high-powered versions of luxury sports utility vehicles.

Those luxury SUVs can provide a similar spirited driving experience, but they’ll never match the driving dynamics of a Corvette or 911.

The timing of this change could be bad news for Chevy, as all signs point to the next Corvette becoming a mid-engined supercar. A smaller batch of midlife crisis buyers doesn’t bode well for the car’s sales numbers.

This trend is perhaps best seen in Porsche. Sales of its cars have dropped by about 8 percent so far this year while sales of its Macan SUV are up by a whopping 30 percent.

As older Americans migrate toward SUVs and young families continue to prefer them over any other kind of vehicle, sports cars makers have an even narrower market to target. If these trends hold true, we can expect production numbers to decline and for mass-produced sports cars to slowly become a vague memory from a time long passed.

What will your midlife crisis car be?

Find Certified Pre-Owned Cars and Used Cars in your area at CarGurus.

-tgriffith

Used Chevrolet Corvette
Used Porsche Cayenne
Used Ford Mustang
Used Porsche 911
Used Porsche Macan

from The CarGurus Blog http://blog.cargurus.com/2016/10/24/midlife-crisis-corvette-or-cayenne
via Car Gurus