Interview: Michelle Krebs

Q. What takes up the bulk of your time at Edmunds.com?
I have two roles, as I am senior analyst. I comment on things happening in the industry to the media. So if it is a big news week, I spend a lot of time doing that. My other role is as editor in large in charge of Auto Observer, which is our business website, and my job is to oversee the filling of the content of that. And we do a lot of analysis. We have a lot of data at our company because we know a lot about the consumer. So we spend a lot of time analyzing the data, putting together stories and media alerts of trends that we see.

Q. What car models are most popular with boomers today?
First, I think that boomers shouldn't be considered a monolith because they are varied. Certainly luxury cars have been popular with some segments of the boomer population. BMW was largely built on the boomer population. Large SUVs were also popular with boomers, especially those with very active lifestyles -- skiing and towing boats and that kind of thing. And then with female boomers, it's a wide array. We've actually seen vehicles that were initially aimed at the youth market popular with the boomers. Because they think young and they've downsized their homes or become empty nesters and so they downsize the vehicle that they're driving. It's all over the map.

Q. What do boomers look for in a car? Which options/features do they like most?
One of the trends we are seeing is more technology. It's beginning to be that the automakers are the stars of the Consumer Electronics Show. Ford, for example, has been very active in terms of electronics in vehicles -- music, the Sync that they've done with Microsoft is a huge new technology and we're just seeing the beginning of all that. Basically boomers want the comforts of their home in their cars. And even when they downsize to smaller cars, they still want all those comforts. So there's a huge trend we will see in the future. For example, Ford is coming out with a new Ford Focus and an even smaller car, the Ford Fiesta, but nobody wants to give up the amenities so they still want all the music features, all the comfort features but in a smaller package.

Q. What effect will a growing number of aging boomers have on the auto market? Will cars need to become more "boomer/senior friendly?"
The boomer generation throughout has ruled the market because they are such a huge generation. As they age, we may see some changes. I would have said before the last recession that they would have moved more to luxury vehicles but I'm no so sure that that's still the case. They've all been hurt by the 401ks and the retirements and mutual funds have all been hit by the economy so I think there's been a little bit rethinking. I even think there will be some that move more towards a more minimalist thing after this has happened. Certainly luxury cars are driven by the boomer market. They'll still have more wealth than the Gen Y generation, which is the next biggest group.

Q. Does the boomer demographic present challenges for automakers?
Yes, because it's so big and so diverse. And second, we do behave differently as drivers when we age. Ford for example has done a lot of work -- it's this outfit they have their engineers and designers put on to change the vision, change the way your fingers move, make it more difficult to bend your knees, so there's more sensitivity to the aging body and how it fits in a car and that kind of thing.

Q. What role do you see for auto technology as it relates to older customers?
I read a great quote the other day, something to the effect that cars are nothing more than rolling audio systems and we've certainly seen a huge movement in that, especially in the last decade. Very upscale, big-name, expensive audio systems. Lexus has Mark Levinson, Bose of course, lots of speakers and better speakers. Certainly it's going to be a given that every car has an MP3 attachment/docking station. I can't even dream of what we'll see in the next decade in that regard.

The other thing we've seen is a lot more electronics technology in terms of electronics related to safety systems. Systems that can automatically parallel park a car, quite amazing. We'll see a lot more of that. In the last decade we've seen things like stability control systems so that the care recognizes that you're going towards spinning out of control and puts you back on course. Most every car has antilock brakes now. All kinds of things like that.

Q. What marketing opportunities does the continuing growth in the older boomer demographic present for automakers? Could Detroit benefit more than import makes?
I think it will represent more of a shift in how they reach boomers, and it's true of the whole population. They have had to find new means to reach audiences, things like facebook and twitter and actually the older population is jumping onto that kind of thing more than ever. The general "mass" TV ads don't work as well so there will be new ways to try to reach that audience as well as other audiences. I think probably the messages will have to change, so that's either a challenge or an opportunity or both.

Detroit has really struggled with the boomer population. It was the boomers that really turned to the imports when Detroit let them down on quality. Toyota's rise was on the backs of boomers largely. So winning them back is going to be more challenging. I think Detroit's best hope is to look at the younger generation.

Q. The theme of the What's Next conference is "Effective Go To Market Strategies, Serving the Boomer Market and Beyond." What makes marketing to the boomers different for automakers?
They are a giant group, an important group to go after, but you have to look at all the different segments and go after them in different ways that speak to them. Either in the means in which you reach them or in the message.

Definitely there's a big difference between older boomers and younger boomers. Older boomers were the more traditional domestic buyers and the younger boomers were more import leaning. Just like the general population, you've got the environmentally minded, you've got the early adopter tech minded, there are the more minimalist who want a smaller vehicle, they're done with hauling around other people and they're just enjoying driving around themselves and keeping it simple. There's the luxury buyer who wants to show that they've made it. So there are lots of different categories.

Q. What topics do you plan to touch on in your talk at What's Next?
Certainly this whole idea that boomers are not one category, they are multiple categories that varies by age, varies by way of thinking, so I will talk about the different vehicles that appeal to that. Certainly technology and what we've seen develop in the last 10 years and what we anticipate in the next decade. The focus on safety, that certainly was driven by the boomers, who had children, and where that's going.