5 things to love about the Lincoln MKT.

Photo: Auto Enthusiasts Newsblaster.

You can make a strong argument that, of any automotive format, it’s the station wagon that encompasses the widest range of elements of the American automotive experience—from hauling big boards home from a lumber yard, to sliding surfboards in the back for a day of thrills at the beach, to packing the family in for a leisurely roadtrip with luggage neatly tied under a tarp on the roof rack, to three rows of seats packed with a youth soccer team, to screaming burnouts from funkily modded, tire-shredding station-wagon street rods. 

Quote of the week: Ford EcoSport brand marketing manager says Generation Z consumers view their cars as an extension of their phones.

Ford EcoSport. Photo: Ford Media Center.

If feeling over-targeted by marketers is a pain-point for Millennials, just wait and see what could be in store for the next generation in line: Generation Z, a cohort that includes many who have not yet even reached the tender age of 18.

Now, as the Millennial-marketing juggernaut continues apace, Ford Motor Company showed a card or two in their demographic Texas Hold 'Em hand yesterday with a news release positioning Generation Z as the ideal consumer for the subcompact SUV segment, which the automaker exemplifies with their Ford EcoSport model.

Is the Fiesta Active Launch in Europe Another Puzzle Piece to Clarify Ford's Future Vision for Passenger Cars?

Photo: Ford media website.

Last month, Ford Motor Company announced the discontinuation of all passenger cars in the U.S. market except for the Mustang and Focus, with only the Focus Active—more of a crossover than a car—to remain.

But in Europe, where passenger cars remain more popular than they are in the U.S., it's a different story. And one part of that story is that the Ford Fiesta, one of the models discontinued (for now, at least, since car models have a way of eventually making a comeback), lives on.

Mazda’s Messaging for the CX-3 Makes the Target Market Pretty Clear

Photo: Mazda media website.

Excuse me, but what exactly is the point of a “subcompact crossover?”

Surely, the very existence of an unfathomable abomination like the Nissan Juke suggests that there is a market for this class of vehicle, but why?

First, let’s take a look at what first led down this automotive rabbit trail.

Why are Passenger Cars an Endangered Species? A Demographer You’ve Never Heard Of Just Might, Indirectly, Hold the Key

Photo: GM media website.

Unless you’re a hardcore demographics geek like me, you’ve probably never heard of Kenneth W. Gronbach. If you have heard of him, chances are you’re a regular listener to Coast to Coast AM, the popular nationally syndicated talk radio show, on which Gronbach has been interviewed a couple of times by host George Noory.


But regardless of whether you’ve heard of him, Kenneth W. Gronbach, author of Upside: Profiting from the Profound Demographic Shifts Ahead, just might be the most important demographer alive. And his take on millennials, the generation that has overtaken baby boomers as the largest demographic group in the U.S., just might go a long way toward explaining the ongoing decline of the traditional passenger car or sedan—a phenomenon that we at Auto Enthusiasts Newsblaster like to call #DeathOfCar.

If you’re like Kenneth Gronbach, you understand that one of the most dangerous errors of omission that any enterprise can make is to have an incomplete or oversimplified understanding of how demographic factors can profoundly affect economic trends and business outcomes.

In his talk-show appearances, Mr. Gronbach relates that he learned this lesson the hard way. In his days as an advertising-agency owner, he gained a first-hand understanding of the importance of demographics when he lost a large client in the motorcycle industry.

Mazda's Updated CX-3: An Example of What Tasteful Design Can Do for a Generally Boring Category—the Crossover

The crossover, or CUV, is not an automotive category that we're crazy about. We don't try to make that a secret around here. That said, it's also no secret that, at least relatively speaking, we are crazy about what Mazda has been doing design-wise recently. And the updated 2019 Mazda CX-3, which, interestingly, Mazda positions as a movement toward its next generation of vehicles, is a nice, if not earth-shattering, of what tasteful design can do for a category that, overall, is, well, shall we say somewhat lacking in the excitement department?

Porsche Unveils Refreshing New Twist on the Crossover: Meet the Porsche Mission E Cross Turismo Concept

Our first reaction? To tell the truth, we were a little perplexed.

Hmm... well, it looks a little like a Veloster from the back... doesn't it?

Then, we took a closer look. And our verdict? This, dear readers, is definitely a twist on the crossover concept that we can applaud—as ambivalent as we have been, in general, about Porsche's moves beyond the traditional sports car category.

And, to add another layer of interest, it's an electric. An electric that makes 600 horsepower.

We'll forgive the floating roof. It's still a concept, and mistakes are correctable.