Honda, the Japanese auto giant has reportedly sold out all the 6,600 units of its car S660 Roadster which is slated to be produced in the current year and is reportedly fully booked until June. However, it should be good news for the company officials but it isn’t. Why so? The response recorded by the company has been quite exceptional but still they are not as cheerful as they should be. The reason is that more than 80 percent of the total buyers of the vehicles are the people aged above 40. The car was developed keeping in mind the requirements of the youth and the target age group was 20-30 but the stats shows some other picture and that is the cause of worry of the company even after getting a very good kick-start for the product.
Misato Fukushima, spokeswoman for the Honda motors said that many of the customers who have booked the vehicle are the repeat customers who are getting their hands onto the coupe as not their first car. It’s also somehow in contrast with the last time when Honda released a full blown sportscar, back in 1999, named the S2000. During the launch of the car back in the time, only the twenty percent of the buyers were above the 40 year age group. However, the company has proved the point that there are still loyal Honda customers who trust the company a lot but the worries caused by lack of enthusiasm by the younger customers has been messing with the thinking tank of the company. Although the problem isn’t limited to just Honda, a slight downslide in the Japanese economy has caused the per capita income to come to a low and furthermore, the Japanese public transportation system is world famous for its efficiency and comfort. And that results in the mindset of the young Japanese people that tell them why you need to spend so much on a car when you don’t need one at all. Further concreting the point is the fact that in Japan, the number of people who owns a driving licence is on an all time low as during the last 13 or so years, the total number of licence holders below the age of 40 has been fallen to more than 46 percent.
Now this is where the problem lies. A leading analyst at IHS, Yoshiaki Kawano said recently that it is coming ahead as a very big challenge for Honda Company to attract the younger people. He also said that the problem will be easily understood if one compares the average per capita income and the demographic features between now and 20 years ago. He concluded that the motivation for the younger members of the society is very limited to spend that much hard earned money to buy a car they are which they are probably going to drive much lesser than the older members of the society.
The overall Demand of the S660 has been quite stable and the company is planning to accept the orders soon.
