Try to find out the extent to which Gen Y is buying cars as compared to previous generations.
You cannot. We've been trying for six months.
This week I visited with my local librarian, who has been trying to help me find data on car buying by Gen Y. She told me, "The auto manufacturers don't want to share that information." That makes sense. Car companies are panicking. They know Gen Y is not buying cars. They don't want to make that public.
But why would the U.S. government try to hide the facts?
* For 30 years, the Commerce Department has collected data on Vehicles per Household (VHH) by age and marital status. When I asked for the latest data, an official in the Commerce Department replied that they have stopped collecting that data. Why?
* This month I asked Eric Bolton of the transportation department for age data on people participating the Cars for Clunkers program. A local dealer told me that age/date of birth was part of the information forwarded to the government. A spokesperson got back to me that they are not collecting that data.
No one is saying how many cars Gen Y is buying. They know. Is it a conspiracy? Or just really bad judgment? What do you think? Tell us : : :
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