Young People Fall Out of Love with Cars

Young People Fall Out of Love with Cars

A new study of auto-related online commentary among teens and young adults by J.D. Power and Associates, has found that todays young people are less interested in buying or owning a vehicle than ever before.

J.D. Power and Associates analyzed hundreds of thousands of “conversations” on auto-related sites such as Autoblog, personal blogs and social networks such as Twitter and Facebook between January and August, and found owning a car or even physically congregating, which a car facilitates, is not that important to them.

The company says part of the reason could be economic because the cost of owning and maintaining a car likely makes less sense than it did years ago when gas was 30 cents a gallon. And “with the advent of social media and other forms of electronic communities, teens perceive less of a need to physically congregate, and less of a need for a mode of transportation.”

“The negative perceptions of the automotive industry that teens and early careerists hold could have implications on future vehicle sales,” said Chance Parker, vice president and general manager of J.D. Power and Associates Web Intelligence Division.

“Generation Y could have the greatest spending power of any generation — even surpassing that of the baby boomers. It will be essential for automakers to earn the trust and loyalty of Gen-Y consumers, who are particularly critical of brands and products.”

The L.A. Times reports that in Japan, the first major developed country to experience a decline in car ownership, disinterest among young people in owning cars is cited as one of the factors behind “demotorization.”

It reports the trend already is having a serious effect on the Japanese auto industry and poses a threat to car-dependent businesses such as restaurants and retail establishments located away from public transportation lines.

The J.D. Power studys goal was to gauge the perceptions of Generation Y (those born in the 1980s and 1990s) toward the automotive industry in general, as well as toward specific vehicle brands. The analysis divided Gen Y into teens (12-18) and “early careerists” (22-29).