Al Oppenheiser: It’s ‘So Important’ To Get Millennials Into Car Culture
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Chevrolet Camaro Chief Engineer Al Oppenheiser is counting on Generation Y – the “Millennial Generation” – to keep motoring enthusiasm alive into the future. With the advent of self-driving vehicles on the horizon, and scores of buyers rejecting cars in favor of big, soft SUVs, Millennials’ participation in performance car culture is needed if muscle cars, pony cars, and sportscars are to thrive.
“The Millennial Generation I think is so important to get them enthusiastic about cars, not the [Millennials] that are here at Woodward with their dads and moms here this weekend, but all over the country,” Oppenheiser said Thursday morning at WWJ-AM’s “Going Fast, Future & Past” Woodward Dream Cruise Business Breakfast. “If they start to think that cars are appliances to get from A to B and I don’t need to drive them… There is a need for the autonomy in the world and it’s coming, but you won’t have cars at car shows.”
Oppenheiser alluded to the falling prices of first-generation Chevrolet Corvettes as evidence of a decline in interest in older collectible cars; those who would have been coming of age while the car was in production (1953 to 1962) are passing away, and younger generations aren’t clamoring to buy them up, he says.
“We need the young people to drool over those cars out in the parking lot and aspire to one,” he said.
The Woodward Dream Cruise will take place this Saturday on Woodward Avenue around Detroit, Michigan. Chevrolet, which was title sponsor for the last five years, has chosen not to re-up their sponsorship deal. The marque will, however, engage with fans at displays in the nearby cities of Birmingham and Royal Oak.
(Source: The Detroit News)
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I’m not a gen Y (I’m older), tbh why would the youth get excited what’s to get excited about? Most car ranges these days have a couple of small fwd hatchbacks, a plug in or electric appliance mid range, about three SUVs & a similar amount of MPV’s. How exciting! No wonder company’s struggle for image, sales & profits. Yes unfortunately there’s always a market for a base model, but where’s the excitement the sporty models, coupes, 2 seaters. Company’s now seem to want standardisation & uniformity, they mimic each other’s ranges, they’ve got a minivan we have to have a minivan – we’ll build 3, a small, medium & large. Then they wonder why nobody’s interested in cars anymore.
there are lots of sporty models/coupes available. the real question is do you have the money.
Steve, I guess your referring to the American market when you say there’s loads of coupes , I guess Honda civic coupes. Well. In Europe few mainstream manufactures make coupes Citroen, Fiat, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Peugoet, Seat, Skoda, Suzuki, Vauxhall all don’t have a Coupe & only Fiat & Mazda make a 2 seater sports car. Back in the day GM always had a coupe in it’s range, Tigra, Manta, Calibra, Royale/Monza, Monaro, & yes I can afford it.
It’s not that millennials aren’t into cars as much as there’s so many options than the need to owning one’s own car. In the San Francisco bay area, companies pick up their employees and give rides to work in air conditioned buses then on the weekend if they need to go some where they have the option of Uber or rental which means the need to their own personal car is very small.
It’s saying something when the metro & über are more desireable than to be seen in dads minivan & grandads prius, car company’s have lost it.
Then they need to be less of a car company, and more of a transportation company.
There will always be a need to move people about, but not everyone wants to be burdened with the costs of car ownership no matter how desirable the car is.
i wouldn’t extrapolate too much from san francisco. the silicon tech scene in the bay area is unlike anywhere else america. how many of us work for an employer that will pick/return its employees in a bus to and from work? for the rest of us, we need our own vehicle.
With all the giant, white, foreign manufactured Google and Facebook buses clogging Bay Area highways and byways (always squatting in the left lanes) coddling the self-important young elitist Google and Facebook children (spewing diesel fumes with such European flair), it’s no wonder you can’t get anywhere around here. Thanks for investing in your ever multiplying fleets of foreign made buses, Google and Facebook – way to show everyone that you’ll always put global “inclusivity” before country – another shining ideology for Gen Apologist to embrace until it comes time to pay the rent.
There are many factors in play here.
Post boomers have many choices, they socially gather on line so a car is not a must. There are no cheap cars let alone cheap performance. The whole dynamic has changed.
I see it everyday in the performace market. There is not much if any growth of people loving performance in the under 40 group.
In the past we identified with our cars and it was a part of the social aspect. We had druggies we had jock, we had band f%#, we had geeks and we had my group the car group. That is how it was in the early 80’s when one with $3k could buy a clean numbers matching 64 GTO with a Tri power 4 speed.
One can still find some deal on 3rd gen f bodies but they are not cheap to make fast or always as easy as it once was. Emissions in CA and other places. Then you have insurance that never has been cheap.
I have met Al several times and he is a car guy to the max but he has a major challenge just to keep the Camaro viable and not replaced by a better selling more profitable CUV.
Going global is going to be AL,s key to the future and if anyone can make it work it will be him that will pull it off.
Let’s face it if coupe sales continue to drop the Camaro can go away again.
Coupe sales were never strong in the last 20 years, and they really only hang on the boomers anyway. Gen Y and Z simply don’t have the disposable income, and if they do need a car, they’re going to want something damn good or exceptional.
The Camaro already died once before, and even then it wasn’t exactly an affordable or powerful option.
Don’t give uber and public transportation too much credit ad about 80% of the country has little of either or little use in most areas outside the west coast and NYC.
They mostly drive old Malibus and Hondas and really have no emotional connection to their cars. As long as they get them there they are happy.
Trucks are a key area as they are affordable, cheap to fix up and fun to drive. They are the one area of growth but the rest will have to go global or die.
I had a malibu and have a honda. I had/have emotional connections to both of those cars!
Then you need to get out more often. LOL!
I have a Bu and it is what I Take to the mall so if it is dented or stolen I would not care. Good car but boring. Good o use to blend in.
Don’t you drive a hot-rodded milkman’s delivery truck?
“Millennials’ participation in performance car culture is needed if muscle cars, pony cars, and sportscars are to thrive.”
You do understand that Millennials aren’t convinced they’re going to ‘thrive’ thanks to global warming brought to them, in part, because of gas guzzling car culture.
9 down with no explanation = so much winning for me
thanks for playing Buttflake and sockpuppets
If a millennial isn’t into car culture, it’s because they’ve had to sit in the rear seat of Oppenheiser’s Camaro.
Now that is funny but true.
I can say being a millennial, that most teens would be more into cars if the following were true.
1. Cars Had More Bang for the Buck.
2. If they Had Better Gas Mileage
3. If Insurance wasn’t like a second car payment.
4. Global warming didn’t exist
5. Gas Prices are Stable and Cheaper.
6. Pontiac was stil alive.
I see more teens my age driving Pontiac Grand Am’s than anything else. Or their G6’s. Pontiac has a very nice thing going on. Sporty looks, paired with V-6 Engines. I’m an exception when it comes to the common stereotype that millennials do not want to work, or attain their license and move out. I drive a 2014 Chevy Sonic, and I can’t Express How much I have planned for it soon. CAI, Stage 1 Tune, Performance Exhaust, BOSCH E85 Fuel injectors. I also just had my insurance renewed for $96/mo
Zach I agree with all but 4 and 6.
As a 40 plus year Pontiac owner they really had little to offer at the end and nothing Chevy did not offer, the Grand Am was just a Berretta with better styling. Pontiac only offered the G8 and Solstice that had any real performance that was better than Chevy.
I had a GTP Comp G and while a fun car it was just a W body Impala with a little more styling. They had the same suspensions, brakes and engines.
As for global warming that is very regional as many parts kids don’t care. Many just say it is bad because that is what they were taught in school but then they still have a poster of a Lamborghini on the wall.
My son has no interest in cars unless he sees a Mclaren, Ferrari or Lamborghini. I
He did finally he would love to buy a Camaro till he realized how much and he ended That right there.
I think many kids would love yo fix up cars but there is little affordable or worth the investment today. They have been priced out of the market unless it is a truck.
I wish joy luck on the Sonic. GM had hoped others like you would do the same but their sales have been killed by the Trax.
The Chevy FNR-x Concept I think would draw many young people but then the price again.
May note even all forms of motor sports is down too so it is not just the cars alone.
“needed if muscle cars, pony cars, and sportscars are to thrive”
Why should that thrive in the first place?
That is the question.
I don’t need that, humanity doesn’t need that, Leprosy is not eradicated by it (I heared today of the death of a woman doctor-missionary who dedicated her life to fight for the eradication of Leprosy in Pakistan. Would her work be helped if “muscle cars, pony cars, and sportscars” are “thriving”?). Poverty is not eradicated by that.
car type people like high school grads now days don’t have good enough paying jobs like we had back in the 60s and 70s that allowed me to drive new corvettes, Z/28 Camaros and 450 HP 454 chevelles. even college grads like my grandson is forced to buy a new chevy trax as that is all he can afford because everything else like health insurance costs so much. he would love to have a 450 HP camaro but it is too far out of his price range.
Yes it is a viscous circle that we never will win.
People want to make a lot of money for lesser jobs and then that directly raises the cost of everything.
The blessing of capitalizam is the opportunity for everyone willing to do the work and take the chances can be a millionaire. But also the reality for capitalizam is for it to work you need all levels of income and everyone will not be millionaires.
While not perfect it is better than communication were everyone is poor accept for the political folks and the organized crime folks.
The disparity between the income and cost is why GM is looking to ride sharing as cars will not get any cheaper and I do not incomes to keep pace with the increases.
The new generation is more technology oriented, so their preferred transportation will be the electric car. Tesla Motors sells best to the SoCal professionals (without any advertisements!!) so the other EVs will become their choices, not gasoline or Diesel powered engines, nor hybrids. They prefer a clean and easy to maintain vehicle, and if they never need to visit a gas station or a dealer for servicing, even better. The newer EVs can travel over 200 miles on a single charge, and there are existing public and private (paid) charging stations all around major cities.
As an strong example, the 2017 Chevy Bolt EV has old more in these last months than the Chevy Volt, yet the national distribution just started. And if you read the Owner Manual (free to read and download at GM web sites), the only schedule maintenance involving any fluid is at the 150,000 mile (240,000 km) mark!! The end of the DIY and neighborhood mechanic is near.
Sorry for the double posting. Please delete this one.
The new generation is more technology oriented, so their preferred transportation will be the electric car. Tesla Motors sells best to the SoCal professionals (without any advertisements!!) so the other EVs will become their choices, not gasoline or Diesel powered engines, nor hybrids. They prefer a clean and easy to maintain vehicle, and if they never need to visit a gas station or a dealer for servicing, even better. The newer EVs can travel over 200 miles on a single charge, and there are existing public and private (paid) charging stations all around major cities.
As an strong example, the 2017 Chevy Bolt EV has sold more in these last months than the Chevy Volt, yet the national distribution just started. And if you read the Owner Manual (free to read and download at GM web sites), the only schedule maintenance involving any fluid is at the 150,000 mile (240,000 km) mark!! The end of the DIY and neighborhood mechanic is near.
There is no car culture. Everything is an SUV, crossover or truck. The interesting cars are all $40k and the exciting concepts never go to production.
Exciting concepts don’t go into production because they end up too expensive or no one ends up buying enough of them.
Like now a Chevy can sell 259,000 Equinoxs but only move 70,000 Camaro when they need to move closer to 100,000 to make a similar profit.
It is just a tough time all the way around for performance.
If this guy’s thinking is typical at GM then GM is in deep trouble. He offers no solutions to his problem. He does not even think maybe the price of a Camero is too high or maybe there needs to be an entry level car.
Well if this is all that easy then you need to take all he parameters he is faced with and solve this.
The reality is you are not going get a $25k SS anymore and if you did you would reject it what it ends up being.
Then you have the coupe aspect as even cheap coupes are being killed so it limits you volume.
The formula of the pony car is dead. These are full on GT coupes that will only survive in smaller numbers in global markets.
The pony car died when these cars were no longer based on the Nova platform.
There are just no rear wheel drive economy cars anymore to base these on.
Even at Ford the econo car based RS needs so much work it goes to 40 grand fast. It too needs to sell globally to survive.
There are just no real simple solutions here when you factor in all the things a mfg has to deal with.
There are a great many things Al would love to do as an engineer but they will not make enough money vs other boring projects.
It comes down to the public that really has a lower demand for performance anymore. If they really wanted it the would even buy used Camaros at cheaper prices but they are not burning up the sale either. Even used Mustangs are not a common purchase for the youth used.
Chevrolet could consider building a vehicle that uses the Baojun E100 underpinnings as a sub-$10K car in today’s market would be huge (given that the Baojun E100 sells for just $5,300); the Baojun E100’s 96-mile range is sufficient with the only necessary change is the electric motor as the new vehicle would need to be capable of freeway speed.
Even the most frugal millennial would be attracted to a zero-emission future looking electric vehicle that has a sub-$10K pricetag.
Change isn’t all bad. Many of today’s vanilla family sedans and obese pickups can outrun what was considered a sports car in 80s and 90s.
What is car culture? It’s certainly generational, as in what the Baby Boomers are in to is what Oppenheiser thinks is car culture.
A different type of car culture might be what the Fast & Furious set is in to – JDM style vehicles. Another car culture might be into electric, non-polluting vehicles.
Just don’t expect to see the “different” car cultures mixing at a car meet, where predominantly V8s are. Different horses for different courses.
Sure, young people have a car culture. For the ones that own their own vehicle, I see them drive older 4 cylinder imports with big bumble bee sounding exhausts and a flat black spray can paint job. They don’t care if it is not rear wheel drive. The occasional one has found themselves an older regular cab stepside pickup. There is nothing new that is both “cool” and “affordable” for them. They can even make an old Chevy Cavalier more interesting than a new Chevy. They love to get around as much as the rest of us, but what gets their interest at what cost is what manufacturers need to find out.
I’m in the demographic Oppenheiser is talking about. I’m a fan of the mechanical world and love cars, engines, trains, planes, tractors, heavy equipment, etc. (it makes me a minority among my peers) but I think car culture is almost gone and would not consider buying a Camaro. The current Camaro is a great piece of engineering when you look at the performance but is so unpractical for everyday life. Not too many years ago we would never dream that a pony car could handle the way it does, but when do I really need that? Unfortunately in this economic climate not many people can justify the huge cost, insurance, garage (because it’s not a daily driver), gas and limited uses for this car. For the same price I have a Silverado crew cab, and it does everything for me.
A Silverado crew cab is also what we have for a daily driver, not to mention our only vehicle. With 4 big doors, room for 6 actual size people, V8 power, and a huge trunk (tonneau cover) the Silverado is now what a car used to be.
https://d3dxp4akn1otfb.cloudfront.net/1967-Chevrolet-Impala-american-classics–Car-100828611-ec64bcf9f491c79cd7709b82c9a1d43c.jpg?r=fit&w=430&s=1
So this then; 4 doors, plenty of room, V8…..
PERFECT! If only we could get this, or similar, brand new with warranty. The current Impala just doesn’t measure up.
The only way to get the “me first” “spoiled brat” generation into cars is to literally shape them like a cell phone and shrink them into something that they can hold in their hands like a pacifier.