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<\/p>\n<\/div>Young Americans have no enthusiasm for cars and can\u2019t wait for the next generation of self-driving automobiles. So goes the conventional wisdom<\/a>.<\/p>\n Someone forget to tell consumers.<\/p>\n Honda debuts its ferocious 306-horsepower, $34,775 Honda Civic Type-R to dealerships this month, the latest in a flood of driver-centric enthusiast cars aimed at the heart of the North American market. Other affordable millennial-friendly toys include the Ford Focus RS, VW Golf R and Toyota 86, and off-road rascals like the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 and Toyota Tacoma TRD. They join a bushel of all-new $60K-something getaway cars like the winged Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, high-revving Mustang GT350, tree-chewing Ford F150 Raptor pickup and the hellacious Demon and Hellcat Dodge Challenger twins.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t believe that boys don\u2019t put posters of cars on their walls anymore,\u201d said Rob Keough, Civic product planner, at the Type-R\u2019s Montreal media launch. \u201cI\u2019ve been on the auto show circuit and there is no shortage of young fans for cars like the Type-R and Mustang and Camaro.\u201d<\/p>\n Auto headlines have been dominated in recent years by industry preparations for an anticipated shift in automobility to self-driving cars. Traditional automakers have joined Silicon Valley giants like Tesla, Uber, Google and Apple in investing billions in technology that would take the steering wheel out of driver\u2019s hands. Chevrolet is testing 130 self-driving Bolt<\/a> bots in three cities while Ford has shaken up management ranks<\/a> to, in part, accelerate its transition to the new autonomous world order. The trend dovetails with reports that Americans have grown tired of automobiles as tedious, environmentally unfriendly appliances.<\/p>\n But while autonomous vehicles may well be an integral part of the nation\u2019s future, evidence that America\u2019s love affair with the automobile is waning is scant. In fact, signs are it\u2019s hotter than ever.<\/p>\n While Tesla and Uber have suffered high-profile hiccups<\/a> with autonomous vehicle rollouts, automakers are heeding consumer demand by sexing up their portfolios. The Type-R is a Civic on steroids. It boasts the highest engine output the Japanese automaker has ever introduced to the U.S. market. It joins similar 300-horsepower rockets like the Golf R and Focus RS for under $40,000.<\/p>\n \u201cThe excitement is building for more affordable performance cars. I was blown away by the whole Type-T package,\u201d says Honda devotee Jason Richman, an auto personality who has built a cult following on YouTube and Facebook. \u201cThere was a time when this kind of performance wasn\u2019t available unless you could afford a $100,000 to $200,000 car.\u201d<\/p>\n An ex-car salesman in Chicago, Richman is a social-media phenomenon known by the handle \u201cHonda Pro Jason.\u201d He has 126,000 followers on Facebook and another 85,000 on YouTube. He credits the social media revolution with turbo-charging auto enthusiasm by helping automakers better connect with car fans.<\/p>\n \u201cThe excitement that social media brings has had a lot to do with the growth of performance offerings,\u201d he says. \u201cAuto events I used to go to that attracted 10 or 20 people now attract 1,000 to 5,000. The Type-R, for example, would not have come to the U.S. were it not for social media. Honda saw an uprising for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Industry insiders say this passion coincides with manufacturing developments that have made it more profitable for the industry to cater to niche buyers.<\/p>\n \u201cCarmakers have gotten better at making the business case for these lower-volume vehicles,\u201d says Kelley Blue Book auto analyst and motorhead Karl Brauer. \u201cBecause of global platforms, the economies of scale are there to build-out niche vehicles that are not just brand halos, but that can also be profitable model extensions.\u201d<\/p>\n Honda\u2019s Keough says the Type-R is a beneficiary of the first-ever global platform for the Civic, now in its 10th generation. In previous models, the five-door hatchback-style Type-R was made exclusively for Europe and Japan on a separate architecture.<\/p>\n \u201cYou used to have to make a business case for each version because you have to pay for the (regulatory) calibrations,\u201d explains Keough. \u201cBut this time the Civic is built on a global platform for two-, four- and five-door variants. Since the body structure was planned to meet European, Japanese and North American crash requirements, it was easier to get the hatchback into the States.\u201d<\/p>\n Advances in manufacturing and software have also made sport variants more affordable to produce, says KBB\u2019s Brauer. Technological innovations like variable valve timing, turbochargers, and programmable engine-control units have made it easier to get more range and capability out of the same engine block.<\/p>\n \u201cMaking high-performance cars can be no more difficult than hooking it up to a laptop,\u201d smiles Bauer.<\/p>\n Contrary to the narrative du jour, Brauer says these variants are finding a millennial audience just like previous generations \u2014 including electric cars that also bring social status. Electric-car sales are up for the 20th-straight month<\/a>. \u201cThe idea that millennials don\u2019t desire cars is an urban myth,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n