Which generation will be the biggest owners of Slates?

[tubes]

I voted Boomer because they have less friction with the price, and many don't need to worry about kids. It also seems like there are a lot active here on this forum, although Reddit trends younger and they are active there too.

Like Xennials, I'm a Generation Jones, the niche between GenX and hard-core hippie, draft-dodging Boomers. I missed GenX by one year. I identify more with GenX stuff than Boomer stuff. I don't like "Grease." Instead, put on "Reality Bites."

I'd love to see GenZ or Alpha take up the concept of simplicity, but I have concerns they may be too connected to tech. Also, the removal of incentives makes it a bit more price sensitive. Still, $25k is better than $40k.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

If we are being honest with our car buying selves irrespective of configuration trucks are not great family vehicles. In fact the drivers behind trying to make them family haulers are what them so expensive, larger therefore harder to park and less good at truck stuff. i Live on a lake and I’ve noticed all of my neighbors justify spending 80 to 150k on a new truck to tow their boats which I have yet to see one of them do. What I do see are my neighbors paying local marinas to take care of their boats that includes taking the boat out of the water and towing it for them to the shop, or towing it over water with another boat. The vast majority of truck owners I know I have at least two cars an over priced under utilized truck and an over sized under utilized SUV. If you need a truck to do truck stuff this all you’d need most if not all of the time. If you are towing a lot or even a little, rock crawling or desert racing then this probably isn’t your truck. For me personally I’m tired of mulch and other debris from Lowe’s and Home Depot littering my SUV. I hope this is a decent truck because I’m going to chance it and buy one.

Dude, I absolutely LOVED my $90K Lightning...it was a dream on the interstate with 5 occupants and I did all kinds of truck things with it....until Ford couldn't fix it. End of story.

But, on reflection, I realize that the "truck things" that I do are 90% throwing stuff in the bed from A to B and towing smallish trailers (my 6x10' utility trailer weighs about 800#). So, if Slate can truly tow 2K# safely, I'll use my wife's SUV for road tripping and this little guy for my little truck things.

To your point, even with a bench seat in, we're not road-tripping the Slate. We're probably going al-fresco to the local pool or commuting or boring day-to-day things. But not road-tripping. (My boss - She Who Must Be Obeyed - not going to stand for that.)

YMMV.

 

[Driven5]

If we are being honest with our car buying selves irrespective of configuration trucks are not great family vehicles. In fact the drivers behind trying to make them family haulers are what them so expensive, larger therefore harder to park and less good at truck stuff.

I could not disagree more. My crew cab short bed full size truck replaced a minivan as my family vehicle, and it ended up objectively being one of the best automotive decisions I've ever made. Either can be the 'better' choice depending on the use case.

The insane prices are from the people wanting them as luxury vehicles, not the ones wanting them as family vehicles. There is a BIG difference between the two. Crew cab short bed, extended cab standard bed, and standard cab long bed also all have the same wheelbase.... Which means no difference in parking. And aside from people who haul 8' building materials for a living, they're no worse at 'truck stuff'.

 

[slatefan53]

GenX: We are the rebels who, while wow'd by technology and ushered in the PC era, have had enough of cars with their Nanny tech, subscriptions, spyware and screens designed by people whom I am convinced have only diven in video games. As a generation who were free-range kids, didn't have helmets to cross the street, and in general were told "Be home when the street lights come on". SLATE for some us is a breath of fresh air. Many are also empty nesters and no longer need the Caravan and/or need something for the kid(s).

GenZ 2.0: I just learned GenZ is split. The youngest, and the ones BOO'ing the AI companies at commencement speeches have also had enough. Hell, they are buying CD's again, Cassettes, and of course Vinyl. They are realizing they have been manipulated and failed by big tech and social media. SLATE could be perfect. (All Slate needs is a "Bench" seat, so when they hopefully start dating like GenX's did ;-) they can get close in their Slate. LOL)

My buddy owns a Pen/Stationary store. His customer base is split like above. GenX's who know how to write cursive and GenZ's looking to go Analog.

Joke: “If we all just switched to cursive and stick shift cars, we could cripple an entire generation.”

 

[GrizzlysGhost]

Joke: “If we all just switched to cursive and stick shift cars, we could cripple an entire generation.”

😂

 

[EV Trek]

I’’m a so called Boomer, I just don’t get why we have to separate people into groups, criticize them and make fun of them. we are all humans… At least I hope so. We all have different wants, needs and experiences. We should learn from each other instead.

 

[tubes]

I’’m a so called Boomer, I just don’t get why we have to separate people into groups, criticize them and make fun of them. we are all humans… At least I hope so. We all have different wants, needs and experiences. We should learn from each other instead.

Absolutely. On this forum, it has been pretty good, I think. OK, maybe there is the "Maverick" group that people talk smack about.

In marketing, it is very important to understand the audience. Trends are extremely influential to sales. Like it or not, cohorts have preferences. I'm hoping that Slate is playing 3-D chess and they see some of these trends coming down the road for the younger cohorts (eg: vinyl records) and are tapping into them. There is nothing better than making a product that appeals to all cohorts.

BTW: I own a Subaru. I'm a man. I've had shit thrown my way for no good reason and frankly I don't care. It just shows how vile some people can be. There's a common nasty trope about Subaru ownership which I won't repeat here.

 

[GrizzlysGhost]

I've had shit thrown my way for no good reason and frankly I don't care. It just shows how vile some people can be.

Yep, quite a few silly divides out there; try taking your Indian Motorcycle (me) to a Harley Dealership (everywhere). Pretty tame in here