It’s Friday, and for some people that means getting a head start on the weekend by pulling that two seat convertible out of the garage. But those little two seaters aren’t quite as popular as they once were – the reason, we’re getting older. As reported by Bloomberg, baby boomers are beginning to outgrow their midlife crisis years, and that’s bad news for automakers seeking to sell sports cars.
One of the physical manifestations of this occurred recently when Ford Motor Company idled its Mustang plant as sales for the year declined nine percent. Other sports cars have also experienced fading sales, including the Chevy Corvette and a number of Porsche models.
While there are still plenty of us who love to pass on the left, men born between nineteen forty six and nineteen sixty four buy most sports cars. For many, the age of seventy is beckoning, and being folded up like an accordion in the front seat just isn’t quite as appealing as it once was. The result is that many of these boomers are turning to high powered luxury sports utility vehicles.
Ford will still likely manage to sell more than one hundred thousand Mustangs this year, but through July, about twenty five percent of those had gone to car rental agencies and corporate fleets according to IHS Markit.
