automotive

Millennials, Gen X Have Different Car-Buying Attitudes

Millennial vehicle-buying preferences may drive some big shifts in the automotive industry, according to a study from Autolist.com.

The Autolist.com study, What Drives Millennials?, is based on 3,383 vehicle owners nationwide. It shows that Millennials care more about buying a new vehicle (+6.2% vs Gen X). Millennials also care less about price (-5.5% vs Gen X).

Millennials plan to own their vehicles for less time (50% plan to own for 5 years or less), which should create interesting used car market dynamics down the road. By contrast, nearly 10% more of Gen X consumers plan to keep their vehicles for 10 years or longer.

Millennials also care more about the holistic environmental impact of their vehicle (+5.1%), and the features and technology of their vehicle (+2.1%) than Gen X. Conversely, Millennials were also shown to care less about reliability (-5.3%) and automotive brand (-3.6%). 

advertisement

advertisement

While the general sentiments driving Millennial purchases are wins for auto manufacturers, the long-term results of shorter ownership are sure to have long-term ramifications on the industry as a whole, according to Autolist.com.

The study also broke down the most popular vehicles by segment between the two generations. Although the generations shared the Ford Mustang as the most popular sports car, the two generations differed with their most popular vehicles in all other segments. Most notably, the most popular pickup among Millennials is the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, whereas among Gen X, it is the Ford F-150.

1 comment about "Millennials, Gen X Have Different Car-Buying Attitudes".
Check to receive email when comments are posted.
  1. John Grono from GAP Research, January 23, 2017 at 9:34 p.m.

    I'd go so far to say, that if you had conducted this research 50 years ago you would have got broadly similar results - only that the labels would have changed.

Next story loading loading..