Big Three See Bumpy Road With 20-Somethings

Detroit automakers face a hard road when it comes to Generation Y—consumers aged 22-32 whose business is crucial to securing the firms' futures, BusinessWeek reports. Their boomer parents broke from tradition by shifting to Japanese cars, and Gen Y is following in those footsteps. Detroit “simply must do much better with Gen Y than they did with their parents, or the comeback we keep hearing about may not happen,” says an analyst.

Some 51% of Gen-Yers say they’re mulling Toyotas, a survey says. Only 34% said they were looking at Chevy, 32% Ford, and 10% Chrysler. Another survey suggests Gen Y is quick to reject brands based on perceptions of reliability and manufacturers’ “bad reputations.”
(More automaker stories.)