More Buyers
“There’s going to be an extra 25 million people passing into and through the 35- to 44-year-old demographic over the next 10 to 15 years,” Merkle said. “That’s going to lead to a gradual increase in the growth of large and midsize SUVs that’s already starting to happen.”
Merkle wouldn’t say if Ford expected sales of larger SUVs to eventually outpace compact utilities, a segment that’s surged past family sedans like the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. Ford forecasts that SUVs will grow to 45 percent of the U.S. market in the next five to seven years, from 40 percent now.
Increasingly, that growth will be driven by millennials, the oldest of whom have lifted the annual birthrate for women 30 to 34 to the highest level since 1964, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“As a sample size of one, I certainly need a lot of space because it’s really tough to travel with a child,” said Zillow’s Gudell, who drives an Audi Q5 SUV.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.