Aaron Brzozowski
The data from a recent survey of US car buyers conducted by MaritzCX shows that in general, the buyers of some of Ford’s sportier models tend to be younger and more affluent than the average customer. That may sound thoroughly unsurprising to you, but wait until you see the numbers.
For instance, while the average age of a new Ford Fiesta buyer is 45 years-old, the average Fiesta ST buyer is just 35. Household income for the average Fiesta buyer is $59,000, versus $102,000 for the ST. The average Ford Focus buyer, meanwhile, is 46 with a household income of $63,000. Compare that to Focus ST buyers, who average about 36 years in age and have household incomes of $108,000, or Focus RS buyers, who are 41 years-old on average, with $169,000 annual household income.
Fun, engaging performance cars like the Ford Fiesta ST, Focus ST, and Focus RS are performing well in the showroom, too, despite the decline in popularity of cars over recent years. Last year, the three Ford hot hatches even enjoyed somewhere around a 20-percent surge in registrations versus 2015.
And for Ford, hooking young buyers with alluring performance products makes sense for another reason. “With repeat customers making up around half of industry sales, capturing younger buyers while they still have many vehicle purchases remaining in their lives is good for business,” says Ford Car Group Marketing Manager Corey Holter.
Lease a man a Focus, and he’ll finish out his term. Sell a man a Focus RS, and he’ll be a customer for life.
