Shoot The Messenger
For our third instalment of this series, we take a break from our commissioned research to address some of the comments raised in previous posts – after all, these are the same sort of comments that raised the issues we are discussing in the first place.
From the feedback we’ve had about our blog series, we’ve taken three key areas to tackle and broken them down into three blog posts:
1. Why is no one in the industry talking about a potential cliff edge of future car ownership?
2. Is it detrimental for Classic & Sports Finance to be discussing these issues?
2. Is it not detrimental for Classic & Sports Finance to be discussing these issues?
The Sub Text – Are you trying to undo the entire classic car movement?
Fig 2. Comment by user:
“This [the blog series] is like Foxtons advertising the fact that millennials can no longer afford to buy, can’t be good for business…will your shareholders be comfortable in the knowledge you’re publishing this information in your e-letters?”
We’ll let Rob Johnson field this one, Managing Director of Classic & Sports Finance:
“In commissioning this research series, we aim not to ‘degrade the market’, but quite the opposite… [it is an] attempt to get the real car enthusiast to think well ahead with a view of finding a way to protect this wonderful classic car movement”.
The changing wider habits of transportation are not happening in secret. Networks such as Uber, Taxify and Lyft are already widely used, allowing the onset of the sharing economy to revolutionise the transport industry. We have already touched on the myriad of reasons that millennials have a very different relationship with traditional car ownership to the preceding generations, and that is even before these new public transportation services have got anywhere near their full potential.
In a world where millennials, (and the generation that follows them Gen Z), decide that there is little benefit in learning to drive due to services such as Uber, then how does one sell them a classic car if they can’t drive it? As electric cars grow in popularity and accessibility, why would someone who learnt to drive in an automatic Tesla (and grew up never lifting a bonnet) bother to learn to drive an old manual car in later years to buy a temperamental classic?
Research has revealed that millennials have a sense of adventure and a desire for new experiences, with 78%* of millennials preferring to spend their money on experience as opposed to material goods, and 69% believe attending live events mean that they are more connected to other people and the community.
In order for the industry to prosper in the coming years classic cars should not be viewed as an investment, or as a means of transportation to move from Point A to Point B, but instead to be viewed as a conduit to experiences and the memories that they can create.
This is exactly in line with the growth that we have seen in classic racing. Enjoyment based around experience has seen an explosion in the number of race series and events that are available for participation, and the popularity of events such as Goodwood Revival and Le Mans Classic proves that this industry is very much alive and kicking, and not on it’s last legs!
There has never been a better time to get out there and use your classic car, or see classic cars being driven in earnest.
In short, if ever there was a time for a generation of new buyers to be inspired into classic car ownership, this is it.
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Why is no one in the industry talking about a potential cliff edge of future car ownership?
Written by Mark Tofts and Joe Briley
