Baby Boomers Are Getting Too Old for Sports Cars

  • Mustangs, Porsches slip as buyers favor new sporty SUVs
  • Chevy marketing less-expensive Camaro to younger consumers
Photographer: Ken Cedeno/Bloomberg

Baby boomers are starting to outgrow their midlife crisis years, and that’s bad news for automakers who want to sell sports cars.

It was a sign of things to come this month when Ford Motor Co. idled its Mustang plant for a week as sales for the year fell 9 percent. Other sports cars have faded at a similar rate, and even stalwarts like the Chevrolet Corvette and most Porsche models are slumping.