The symbiosis of developers (business), government agencies, and consumer desires is entering a new era in the US market, bringing the consumer lifestyle to places it has never been; but one might argue more inline with other global standards. The New Urbanism and urban-living movements in the United States represent some of the most exciting consumer movements for the next decade and beyond.This urban-living movement in the United States has major implications for how manufacturers can attempt to meet the personal mobility needs of the consumers. It also has environmental implications as the convergence is unique in that business, government, and consumers' needs are invisibly partnered towards the same goal: the goal of a sustainable society.This means for the automotive brands the requirement to develop new channels and new positions in the consumer minds: to extend the traditional brands into the consumer's mind when thinking of personal mobility and sustainability within new communities/urban settings. At a minimum, this requires a renewed emphasis on such new brand channels or brand extensions.
The coming of age of Generation Y in the United States represents the largest inflow of new consumers to the U.S. automotive marketplace in over two decades. This paper concerns how and why Honda has approached this new consumer segment in the U.S. market and the subsequent calibration of expectations for a new model introduction - the Honda Element - with emerging market realities.
This paper describes how the impact of new Generation Y automotive consumers in the American marketplace is being handled by Honda' research and development arm in the United States. This division is responsible for the creation of new product concepts and advanced product planning and market research efforts for Honda in the Americas. The way in which industry in the United States reacts to the Generation Y inflow could alter the global positioning of brands and have ripple effects in markets in Europe and Japan/Asia well. In exploring the research and product concept creation by Honda, it will be seen why the entire automotive industry in the United States needs new products for Generation Y, while gaining insight into one of the world's most successful automotive brand.