Students and Hagerty Driving Experience staff pose for a group photo
According to a study by the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute, younger people are significantly less interested in cars and driving than previous generations. Findings revealed that 79 per cent of people aged 20-24 possessed a driver’s licence in 2011, compared with 92 per cent in 1983. For both OEMs and dealers, such findings are becoming a growing concern, especially as they look for ways to entice car buyers, keep them interested and sustain their business over the long term. However, one automaker, in conjunction with a classic car insurance provider, is doing what it can to change that.
A variety of cars were available for students to drive
Ford Motor Company and Hagerty Insurance have teamed up for the Hagerty Driving Experience, a North American tour that offers young motorists (age 15-25) the chance to experience performance and classic vehicles, while also learning to drive a manual transmission. Recently, Canadian auto dealer got a chance to experience one of these events, during the tour’s first ever stop in this country, in Toronto.
“The whole purpose of the Hagerty Driving Experience is to give these young people a chance to get behind the wheel of a car they probably otherwise wouldn’t have been able to — anything from a Ford Model A to a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro to a brand new Mustang,” says Jonathan Klinger, public relations manager for Hagerty Insurance. Klinger says that part of the reason for the drop in driving interest is due to the proliferation of social media and the fact that today’s kids no longer need access to a car to connect them to the outside world, or to provide them with that sense of personal freedom.
Tabetha Hammer, Youth Advocacy and PR manager for Hagerty, says that the young drivers who participate in the driving experience program “absolutely love it. There is often a lot of anxiety and nerves at the beginning,” she says but “once they understand we are here to help them, they just love it. Many have said it was a really great opportunity and express interest in buying one of the cars they drove at the event.”
Ashley Russell says the program has helped change her view on cars and driving
Lincoln Hill, Creative Associate at public relations and marketing firm PCGCampbell who coordinates Ford’s participation in the Hagerty Driving Experience, says that Ford got involved after Mustang marketing manager Jim Owens met Klinger and Hammer and saw their enthusiasm for the program. “We like enthusiasts of all stripes,” says Hill and “anything that gets young people into cars is good for us and good for enthusiasts.”
As for the kids themselves that attended the Toronto event, we got a chance to speak with a few of them and get their impressions. “I definitely think everybody should come out and learn,” says Angelo Dinicola, “it is very cool to drive a standard transmission.”
Ashley Russell says that although learning to drive a manual was “tough at first,” after awhile “it was good — I felt like a race car driver.” Russell says that part of the reason why young people are less interested in driving is because they aren’t exposed to it. She says now that she’s learned to drive a manual, it has taken her interest in cars and driving to a new level. “Once you get into it, you say I want that car. I’m saving up because I want a Jeep Wrangler with a stick-shift.”
