The auto industry has a lot of problems. It has to worry about workers’ pension and health care costs, too-frequent recalls and the rising cost of gas. I think there is something else that should concern the automakers.
It’s the iPhone.
Teenagers love smartphones, and getting one has become a rite of passage. A driver’s license? Like, whatever.
It seems unlikely, but at least one auto company is paying attention.
“The car used to be the signal of adulthood, of freedom,” Sheryl Connelly, the Ford Motor Company’s manager of global consumer trends and futuring, said in a recent phone interview. (The title sounds strange, but many big companies now have executives focused on discerning the future.) “It was the signal into being a grown-up. Now, the signal into adulthood for teenagers is the smartphone.”
To read the full, original article click on this link: Disruptions: For Teenagers, a Car or a Smartphone? - NYTimes.com
