The growing utility vehicle market is attracting consumers from multiple generations, Trent Marsh, marketing analyst for American LandMaster, told Powersports Finance.
UTVs can be utilized for work and play, which appeals to different groups of people. The Baby Boomer generation, for example, tends to use UTVs for personal use on their property.
“At least for us, we’re a utility-vehicle manufacturer, so you’re seeing a lot of folks that have gotten used to that country lifestyle and maybe they’re getting a little older and it’s a little tougher to maintain property with hand tools and wheelbarrows,” Marsh said. “They’re looking toward UTVs not necessarily from a recreation standpoint, but just to be able to continue to manage a property or get around like they are used to doing.”
While Baby Boomers are the main buyers of UTVs at the consumer level, American LandMaster is seeing an “anomaly” in the millennial generation pursuing the vehicles, Marsh added.
“We’re seeing some of that return to organic living, where people who have lived urban or suburban lives are starting to migrate a little bit to the fringes,” Marsh said. “They get out there and there’s a lot of work that they haven’t done before, and they are leaning on these types of vehicles to help them get into that lifestyle, as well.”
According to a study on the sales process of UTVs at franchise dealerships, UTVs have grown in presence but can still be difficult for some consumers to find. However, American LandMaster is not necessarily “pigeonholed” into one consumer type and has appeal on both ends of the generation spectrum, Marsh added.
