American Honda Motor Corporation
Honda Corporation and U.S. Markets
After investigating the U.S. market and getting positive feedback, Honda exported over 50,000 CR-Vs to the U.S. in 1997. The target markets for this sporty looking new CR-V were consumers between the ages of 23 - 34, referred to sometimes as generation X. At $20, 000 however, in comparison to its competitors who offer vehicles at a cheaper cost, one might ask the question - why such a high price tag? An article on generation X from demographics.com sums the answer to this question up nicely:
§ 54 percent of Gen Xer's have established a financial plan
§ 88 percent want investment advice
§ 46 percent already own mutual funds
§ Population size of 44 million and growing
The increased use of information technology in today's economy also creates an environment that facilitates better-informed decision-making. The internet, a powerful source for information is more than readily accessible. For instance, instead of watching 30-second commercials on television, generation X can tap into the net and spend as much time as they need researching products before making a purchase. As a result, generation X is better educated than previous generations and has more disposable income. They value quality more so than ever before and basically look for products that work for them.
Economic forces that will impact Honda
To continue selling record breaking units Honda will have to keep in touch with the needs of its changing customer base. For instance, the fastest-growing states, metropolitan areas, cities, and countries were concentrated in the South and West, according to the Census Bureau.
§ The states whose population rose the fastest between 1996 and 1997 were Nevada (4.7%), Arizona (2.7%), and Georgia and Utah (both 2,1%). Meanwhile, Las Vegas, was the most rapidly growing metropolitan area from 1990 to 1996, with a 41% population increase, followed by Laredo, TX (33%), and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX (29%).
§ The story for cities was much the same. Among those with more than 100,000 people in 1996, the fastest growing from 1990 to 1996 were Henderson, NV (88%), Phoenix, San Antonio, and Houston. Each gained more than 100,000 people during this period.
§ According to projections, the U.S. population in 2050 will have risen to about 394 million mostly in part due to increasing ethnic groups.
Significance of these trends
In 1997, an estimated 26 million persons, or nearly 1 in every 10 residents of the United States, were foreign born, the highest level since 1930.
Population changes and migration patterns can be mapped based on census records. I'm sure it wouldn't surprise anyone to hear that New York City has been the most populous urban US city on every census since 1790, but the rest of the list has seen some major differences. In 1790, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was in second place with 28,522 people, but falls to fifth place in 2000 with one and a half million people! There are cities in the 2000 census that did not exist in 1790, like Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles and of course, Forney. But ironically, one of the two cities that tied for 10th place in 1790 - Southwark, Pennsylvania - doesn't exist today. What is interesting to research is how historical events affect the population densities of different areas of the United States. After railroads reached the west cost, and the Gold Rush fever brought people out, San Francisco hit the population list in just a few short years and by 1900 was in the top ten. Between 1860 and 1870, several cities in the south dropped off the top 100 cities rankings completely, I'm sure as a direct result of the Civil War.
There were many key factors that contributed to Colorado’s powerful growth. Various states like Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Oklahoma, all had many residents that moved to Colorado. A lot of these people were either looking for work or living their life out in retirement. They were settling in towns and cities that were not so large but this was a big contribution to Colorado’s growth in the 1940s (Abbott, Leonard, Noel, pp. 318, 2013). Colorado continued to grow and flourish well into the 1950s.
Minorities: Latinos became largest minority, Hispanic mayors in Miami, Denver, and San Antonio, Asian Americans numbers were also growing (12 million)
projected to grow through 2050, including the population of those of Hispanic origin, which is
In the beginning, everything was going well for Generation X economically. They arrived just in time for a labor shortage in the early 90’s, where employers were in desperate need for people in Information Technology (IT) (Zemke, et al). In fact, this is where this cohort earned their reputation for being slackers. Before them, everyone worked for survival. Now this new generation was working for status, and the income they earned to fit the companies’ needs was enormous. Then, about as quickly as it began, it ended. The dot.com bubble burst and massive layoffs came into play. Hundred thousand dollar educations went out the window as overly qualified IT technicians were out of work.
6 American Community Survey Demographic and Housing Estimates: 2008. U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau. http:// factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&- qr_name=ACS_2008_1YR_G00_DP5&-ds_name=ACS_2008_1YR_G00_&-_ lang=en&-redoLog=false&-format=
births as that of their parent generation. Gen Y kids are known as incredibly sophisticated, technology wise, immune to most traditional marketing and sales pitches as they not only grew up with it all, they’ve seen it all and been exposed to it all since
U.S. Census Bureau. "2000 Census of Population and Housing." May 2000. www.census.gov. April 15, 2002. <http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/dp1/2kh00.pdf>.
increased from 35.3 million in 2005 to 50.5 million in 2010. As the U.S. population
Texas population has undergone changes over the past decades, with people coming from different states and other countries. Texas, continues to top the nation in population growth. The great state of Texas, has welcome 432,957 new people between 2015 and 2016. Between 2000 and 2010 Texas at an average rate of about 2 percent a year. Steve Murdock, a former head of the census and now director of Rice University's Hobby Center for the study of Texas, said "The state has topped population growth lists since about the turn of the millennium—and he doesn’t expect that to change anytime soon.
Over the ten years (2000-2010) the population grew to 57 percent in the south. But in the Midwestern, the population grew to 49 percent. Even though it took more time for the population to grow for the Hispanics than the south and Midwest, in the west the Spanish population grew to 34 percent. In the northeast the Hispanic population increased by 33 percent. California has the largest Hispanic population with 14 million people. Texas was the second state with 9.5 million people and Florida was the third state with 4.2 million people in 2010. The state with the highest percentage of Hispanics is New Mexico and the percent is
Generation X was the birthing recession post Baby Boomer generation and is termed the latch key generation. They are self-reliant survivalists that crave balance and are nontraditional about time and space with a very casual attitude toward authority. They tend to be cynical and edgy and technologically savvy (Zemke et al., 2013). Generation Y and Millennials are often considered the
as the most crime-prone. (Between 1966 and 2001, 18 - 24 showed a 62% increase
Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the United States has established five social generations that were formed to describe a group of people based on the major events that they experienced, and the characteristics that they share. Each social generation appears to have some significance that defines them, except for one generation: Generation X. A generation that contains those born between 1965 and 1980, Generation X has one of the smallest populations for any generation (Taylor 37-38). Their population size becomes more noticeable when placed between the sizes of the Baby Boomer generation and the Millennial generation. Besides their size, Generation X is a very misplaced, and misused generation whose people are more likely to identify as Boomers or Millennials, instead of as Generation Xers. Despite their small size and lack of
As Generation Y, we are 63 million members strong and spend more than a billion dollars annually (Marketsource). With such spending power it is easy to see why companies choose us as their target market. We have grown up in a "'consumption culture" are "taught that (we) will be satisfied if we purchase products to fill our wants and desires" (Youth in the Third Millennium). Perhaps this need to buy things is only a progression ...