Study Finds Millennials Love Cars, Wish They Weren’t a Pain to Buy
A study recently conducted by MTV may have debunked the theory that millennials aren’t interested in buying cars — who knew they would give up their phones before they’d give up their keys?.
The study, which was released at the National Automobile Dealers Association conference in San Francisco last week, said 3 out of 4 millennials would rather give up their social media accounts for a day than give up their cars and 72 percent of the 3,610 millennials surveyed would rather give up texting for a week over their cars.
The results might sound like good news to an industry that has been struggling to sell to young people. In 2007, Pew reported that 73 percent of households headed by an adult younger than 25 had a car, but in 2011 that number dropped to 66 percent. In 2010, adults between 21 and 34 years old bought only 27 percent of all new vehicles owned in the United States, according to The Atlantic.
The MTV study results debunked what some might call myths about millennials and the auto industry, such as:
Myth: Millennials don’t drive — the study found that 80 percent of those surveyed did.
Myth: Millennials have no interest in getting their license — the study said that less millennials getting their licenses has less to do with desire and more to do with increased state restrictions.
Myth: Millennials’ true love is technology — the study revealed 92 percent of those surveyed said that having a phone did not replace having a car.
The MTV study also found that 8 in 10 people aged 18-34 get around most often by car compared to other transportation, but 80 percent of millennials surveyed feel that buying or leasing a car should take less time than it does.
There’s an app for that — well, sort of.
Millennials can do a lot of research via CarMax or Kelly Blue Book before ever stepping foot into a dealership. If millennials go in knowing exactly what they want, the buying or leasing process could take significantly less time.
Auto News reports that 51 percent of millennials used a smart phone to help them shop for a car.
According to TechHive, shoppers can use the Edmunds app to research car reviews, fair prices and availability, potentially eliminating some unnecessary time at the dealership.
Although there are apps for research, there doesn’t seem to be one which will eliminate haggling at the dealership and the mounds of paperwork that come with buying or leasing a car. Could a millennial be up to the task of creating one?
In the meantime, auto manufacturers and dealerships can rest assured knowing Generation Y hasn’t given up on the auto market, according to MTV’s study.
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