NEW YORK—A sheet flew off the all-new Honda Civic hatchback as it gleamed under the hot lights during a press conference on a glitzy stage near the New York International Auto Show on Tuesday.
Inside the brick-lined walls of a hip Hell’s Kitchen venue, a dozen Millennials who scored invitations to the event did not appear enthused at the shiny sheet metal.
“I don’t even drive,” one said to her friend.
The Millennials clutched their smartphones, hands on hips — the ultimate sign of disinterest in a culture where barely anything exists if it didn’t happen on social media.
But when celebrity artists Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas hit the stage a few minutes later to promote their upcoming Honda concert tour, the Millennials got giddy — and the tweets, snaps and texts started flying.
Therein lies the problem for the auto industry. Getting Millennials interested in new cars is a feat of devilish proportions for an industry accustomed to selling cars based on horsepower, torque and fuel economy.
To cope with the shift, Honda let Lovato design her own version of the Civic sedan, which won the 2016 North American Car of the Year award in January. It came out with a special pinkish hue base, tapered with black matte flames on the sides.
“I wanted it to look so fast that it looked like it was peeling away the black,” she said.
As she went to autograph the special edition Civic, fans stood on their toes to catch every moment.
As it turns out, Millennials will buzz about a special appearance from a couple celebrities, but the bigger question is whether they’ll buzz about cars.
The industry has a lot of work to do. The percentage of people aged 20 to 24 with a driver’s license hit an all-time low in 2014 at 76.7%, down from 91.8% in 1983, according to the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.
What’s more, cars are struggling due to low gasoline prices. Small car sales fell 17% in 2015, according to J.D. Power.
The Civic hatchback made its North American debut Tuesday, following its global debut last month at the Geneva auto show. It’s the first five-door hatchback Civic in the North American market, boasting sporty lines. The five-door 2017 Civic hatchback joins the coupe and sedan versions and will hit showrooms later in 2016, developed by Honda engineers in Japan and Europe.
In one bit of news, Honda announced that it would make a six-speed manual transmission available on all turbocharged versions of the Civic.
“We said this would be our sportiest Civic ever and we meant it,” said Jeff Conrad, senior vice president and general manager of the Honda brand in the U.S.
Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.
More from the New York International Auto Show:
Honda Civic hatchback debuts with help from Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas
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