{"id":157034,"date":"2020-12-14T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-14T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=157034"},"modified":"2020-12-14T10:22:04","modified_gmt":"2020-12-14T15:22:04","slug":"ford-looks-at-consumer-life-post-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2020\/12\/ford-looks-at-consumer-life-post-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Ford Looks at Consumer Life, Post-Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
If you’re feeling squeezed by the pandemic, Ford found, you’re not alone.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019re feeling overwhelmed by life right now, and what COVID-19 has wrought, you\u2019re not alone.<\/p>\n

In a newly-released survey of 14 countries by Ford Motor Company, 69% of respondents feel overwhelmed by the changes taking place, while 53% find adapting to the changes harder than most thought. Surprisingly, younger respondents are feeling it more acutely, with 63% of Gen Zers saying that adapting has been harder than anticipated. Only 42% of Boomers said they feel the same.<\/p>\n

Overall, less than half of all respondents, 47%, have found adapting to life with Covid-19 \u201ceasier than I imagined,\u201d or so says a new report released today by Ford. The study focused on how consumers are adapting to life during the pandemic and the coping mechanisms they\u2019re using to endure it.<\/p>\n

In that regard, the ninth annual \u201cLooking Further with Ford Trends Report\u201d adds another layer of worry to an industry already wrangling with increased costs for labor, freight, raw materials and pandemic response, not to mention the staggering costs of developing electric and autonomous vehicles, according to a panelist of auto insiders who spoke at a recent meeting of the Society of Automotive Analysts, or SAA.<\/p>\n

(Despite “remarkable” rebound, it’s unclear whether the economy — and the auto industry — will be fully recovered any time soon, say automotive experts.) <\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the added uncertainty of whether consumers struggling to pay their mortgages will also be able to pay their car loans. But the report helps provide clarity to consumer behavior during a tumultuous year.<\/p>\n

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The pandemic has led to many changes in our daily life, including a surge in online shopping.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s clear that the changes brought about by COVID-19 have changed us \u2013 but to what degree?\u201d said Sheryl Connelly, global consumer trends and futuring manager for Ford Motor Company.<\/p>\n

\u201cFord and other companies are keenly interested to know what changes will stick long after COVID is in our rearview mirror.\u201d<\/p>\n

Certainly the report helps prepare Ford, and other companies, for what\u2019s ahead as it confirms what so many of us live with on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

Like anxiety.<\/p>\n

Few will likely be surprised to hear that 63% of the respondents said they feel more stressed than a year ago, and four out of five are concerned about their emotional well-being? The reality for millions of Americans is that work\/life separation has disappeared since the lockdowns of March.<\/p>\n

(Pandemic forces changes across the auto industry.)<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Luckily for Ford and other automakers, one in four adults vehicle owners escape to their car, truck or van to relax, with one in five saying they use their vehicle for privacy. And 17% say they use it as an office. When they\u2019re not using their automobile as another room in their home, they\u2019re using it to escape. Being in your own vehicle allows consumers to control their travel and minimize health risks.<\/p>\n

This helps explain the stronger than expected rebound in car sales in recent months after a deep drop-off during the spring. During the SAA conference, one panelist noted that 2020 sales, overall, will be about 1 million vehicles higher than the consensus forecast suggested mid-year.<\/p>\n

“Those among Gen-Z are twice as likely to feel lonely due to pandemic restrictions as are Baby Boomers<\/strong><\/em>.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But the Pandemic has had other effects.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Cars have become more than just a vehicle to be used to go from Point A to Point B during the pandemic. There’s also a growing demand for sustainable transportation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As you no doubt already know, what we buy and how we buy it has been transformed, and companies have responded, with an emphasis on online shopping. Consumers like the change. Seventy-five percent worldwide prefer the changes, and 41% don\u2019t want shopping to revert to 2019 norms. But knowing how the Pandemic has changed our commercial life and impacted low-income communities, an overwhelming number of consumers expect companies to take a stand on social issues, and think that most companies are taking the proper stance.<\/p>\n

They also expect companies to respect sustainability, as the large increase in take-out food and other delivered goods has led to a dramatic increase in the use of plastics. Gen Zers are particularly concerned, with 46% saying that the pandemic has made us more wasteful.<\/p>\n

But quarantines and online life has also changed our sense of family, and the need for companionship. Loneliness is pervasive. Worldwide, one in two people feel lonely, with Gen Z cohorts nearly twice as likely to feel isolated on a regular basis compared to Boomers \u2013 64% vs 34%.<\/p>\n

The report neatly verifies what so many of us suspected, or already knew. Still, it\u2019s nice to know that we\u2019re not alone in what we\u2019re feeling, or our response to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile no one can predict the future, that doesn\u2019t mean we can\u2019t prepare for it,\u201d Ford\u2019s Connelly said.<\/p>\n

(Trade-in values on used car prices falling back to normal after pandemic surge.)<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The full report can be found on www.fordtrends.com. <\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re feeling overwhelmed by life right now, and what COVID-19 has wrought, you\u2019re not alone. In a newly-released survey of 14 countries by Ford Motor Company, 69% of respondents feel overwhelmed by the changes taking place, while 53% find adapting to the changes harder than most thought. Surprisingly, younger respondents are feeling it more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13752,"featured_media":157035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,5,10,12,9],"tags":[],"make":[56],"post-state":[],"category_old":[118,140,150,151,123,319,171,248,152,139,291,278],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157034"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13752"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157034"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=157034"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=157034"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=157034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}