The Age Curve: How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Storm

Chapter 4. Case Study: Detroit, Japan, and the Best Customers for Cars

There is nothing more pathetic than watching a consumer-goods or durable-goods giant circle the drain when its sales go south. No one ever fixes the problem. Everyone wants to fix the blame instead. Detroit’s red ink, for example, is a tragic by-product of the quarterly report and the total lack of vision it precipitates. You cannot be a visionary by thinking three months into the future. If Detroit would pay attention to the demographics of car buying—and to the parade of generations marching through the car market—it could stop the annual flow of red ink.

The best customer for a new American car, after all, is a forty-three-year-old male. This customer buys more new cars ...