Pity the automaker trying to pitch a new car to today's style-conscious young American. That customer lives at the end of a bumpy, uphill road―as shown by the early response to Honda's Element. A boxy, SUV-like vehicle launched last year, the Element is what Honda calls a "dorm room on wheels." It was designed to appeal to young drivers who want to pile in gear and friends; TV ads show sexy college-age kids taking it to the beach and partying beside it. It's an alluring image-especially, it turns out, if your hair's thinning, you're hankering to recapture the feel of those footloose days, and you've got car-pool duty for Little League this Saturday. The Element is selling nicely―but to folks whose average age is 42. And, of course, once 21-year-olds see boomers behind the wheel of a new car, they're likely to steer right on by.
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