Amid today’s frenzied, tech-driven America, The NPD Group has observed demand for products that bring consumers back to simpler times. In the automotive industry, this has played out in DIY restoration of older car models.
Automotive Industry Analyst Nathan Shipley credits a boom in the vintage car restoration business to a healthy economy that has allowed consumers to have some fun again collecting and restoring old cars. “People want to drive classic too, with classic cars making a comeback this year,” added Shipley.
Several classic nameplates have plans to return to the automotive world in the years to come. The Ford Ranger compact pickup truck had a 29-year run in the U.S. through 2011 and now the automaker is producing an upgraded version to be re-introduced in the U.S. market for 2019 to attract nostalgic drivers who want a classic, yet modernized, model. Fiat-Chrysler is producing a new Jeep Wrangler Pickup, the first Jeep pickup available since the early ‘90s, as well as a Jeep Grand Wagoneer—an ode to the 1984, boxy fake-wood clad classic. Older, retired brands also are back on the scene, like Cord, which built its last model in 1937. Eighty years later, the brand has plans to come back to life, sparking interest across automotive enthusiasts.
NPD took a look at purchase behavior across its tracked industries to see what nostalgic trends they are observing in 2017. From fashion and footwear, to food, technology, toys, automotive, office supplies, beauty and books, see what products are back with a vengeance (for now at least) in NPD’s latest whitepaper, “Back to Basics: An Ode to Yesteryear and the Products People Are Buying Again.”
Click here to read the complete whitepaper.
