Survey: Where Will Millennials Take the Car Industry?

Aug. 23, 2017
The most enlightening result for auto care shops comes when the survey explores how millennials handle the costs of owning a car. When asked, "Which of the following best describes your feeling after purchasing a car?" 39 percent of respondents were surprised by the maintenance costs, while 60.88 percent stated that they were not surprised.

Aug. 23, 2017—In what direction is the automobile industry headed next?

To find the answer, LendEDU conducted a poll of car-owning millennials in which the company asked them a series of questions related to their car habits. While the study covers a wide spectrum of topics, perhaps the most enlightening for auto care shops comes when the survey explores how millennials handle the costs of owning a car.

"When you purchase an automobile, you can expect two expenses to stay with you for the duration of owning that car: maintenance costs and insurance costs," the study stated. "We asked car-owning millennials, 'Which of the following best describes your feeling after purchasing a car?' 39.12 percent of respondents were surprised by the maintenance costs, while 60.88 percent stated that they were not surprised.

"Maintenance costs can rack up quite a hefty bill, so it is encouraging that a comfortable majority of millennials were ready for it."

Also of note is the popularity of ride-sharing services, which the survey states that growing market "may be having a moderate influence on the car industry."

When asked if the growth in ride-sharing services like Uber have made our respondents re-think car ownership, 16.57 percent of car-owning millennials said "yes." Although the clear minority, 16.57 percent of millennials re-thinking car-ownership due to the rise of Uber and Lyft is a cohort that did not exist just a few years ago and is nothing to scoff at.

On the subject of the cars of the future, the study asked: "If possible, would you give up manually driving a car if it meant that you could have a self-driving car?"  

Around 57 percent of car-owning millennials said they could not give up manually driving a car, while 42.51 percent said they would. The results of this particular question were a lot tighter than anticipated and demonstrate the openness many millennials have towards self-driving cars—an openness that is not as prevalent with older American consumers.  

When it came to "green" or hybrid cars, more car-owning millennials were in favor of purchasing an environmentally-friendly car. The simple majority of respondents, 50.10 percent, said they would prefer owning a "green" or hybrid car over a traditional car, while 49.90 percent would opt for a traditional car. Similar to the question pertaining to self-driving cars, millennials are clearly much more ready for the cars of the future. 

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