The Boomers will get yet another chance to drive the rest of the generations crazy, Redmond said, since "they will insist on doing things their own way, and are unlikely to want the same things as their parents."
So things like Night Vision, larger control knobs, and "perhaps a hydraulic lift for entry in fullsize SUVs" are going to become more common. There may also be "driving schools where seniors can learn some new defensive driving strategies," Redmond suggested.
We know for sure that the Boomers "will be as conscious about style and image as they have always been. They will still want vehicles that say 'I've made it.' But they also want room for grandchildren." And given the life-expectancy reality, Boomer "Girl Power" is going to have massive power in a couple of decades.
Redmond said that companies around the world are learning that the consumers of a particular brand actually control it, not the companies who market it. If the company does something to a brand that it's loyalists don't like, they'll walk to another brand that better suits their taste. This puts pressure on the car companies to give buyers more of what they want.
The bottomless pit of information provided by the Internet has already shifted the balance of power heavily in the direction of the web-savvy consumer, Redmond said, but that's just the tip of the iceberg in changes we can expect.