QuoteSelling cars to young adults under 30 is proving to be a real challenge for automakers. Unlike their elders, Generation Yers own fewer cars and don’t drive much. They’re likely to see autos as a source of pollution, not as a sex or status symbol.
Motorists aged 21 to 30 now account for 14% of miles driven, down from 21% in 1995.
They’re more apt to ride mass transit to work and use car sharing services -- pioneered by Zipcar -- for longer trips. And car sharing choices are expanding, with car rental firms moving into the market, making it convenient for young folks to rent with hourly rates and easy insurance. Connect by Hertz, for example, is rolling out its car sharing services in the New York metropolitan area, with plans to eventually expand them to around 40 college campuses nationwide.
The trend won’t cause car sales to tank, of course, but the generational shift doesn’t bode well for manufacturers and auto dealers, which for decades have counted on wooing young new drivers to their brands in hopes of cementing lifetime customer relationships.
Gen Yers are a big potential market: At 80 million strong, they represent the biggest generation in U.S. history. Baby boomers are a close second, but millions of them begin turning 65 next year -- an age at which car purchases drop off sharply.
“It’s a matter of mind-set far more than affordability,†says William Draves, president of Learning Resources Network, an association that studies consumer trends and provides education and training services.
“This generation focuses its buying on computers, BlackBerrys, music and software and views commuting a few hours by car a huge productivity waste when they can work using PDAs while taking the bus and train,†says Draves.
Moreover, in survey after survey, Gen Yers say that they believe cars are damaging to the environment. Even hybrid electric vehicles don’t seem to be changing young consumers’ attitudes much.
http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/1523/generation-y-giving-cars-a-pass/
That's sad. Cars are so much a part of the identity of each generation.
I also think this article is stretching reality. Young people almost always like cars.
I'll vouch for the article!
If public transportation was half decent I'd use it to get across town, but unfortunately it's easier and faster to drive...
I would like bike to school and the local area in the wintertime , but I'd also rather not nearly get run over...
The automotive industry and JTA (expressway industry) have made these simple, economic, and cleaner alternatives ridiculously time-consuming and unsafe to do. Thus concluding my dislike of all gas powered, pollution producing, space consuming cars.
While I am an car lover ,personally, I believe when we get a decent mass transit system in place in our city , I will be way more inclined to leave the car at home... as well as the fact, that like the new generation , I do not see automobiles as status symbols ,but transportation... point a to b ,,and when I am finished with a car, usually even a junk yard does not want it. so I get the good out of every one of them and can say freely, well have gotten my money's worth. On the whole , I think if individual automobiles were to go away, we would all be better off.. Do I love classic American Muscle Cars ? of course. But are they good for the environment? Not so much .
I fit with this, too. I really don't see car ownership as appealing, and especially not of a new vehicle. On top of being a money sink and a pain to have to use to commute (I've been lucky so far to have jobs I didn't need a car for, but I still have a used clunker for shopping and leaving town), new cars don't even look appealing to me anymore. I find most car designs popular in the US in recent years incredibly ugly and bulky. It seems in vogue for a car to look like it ate another one, which may at least be consistent with American houses and waistlines. ;) That said, it is nice to see the Smarts taking hold here. I'd go for one of those (you hear that, Detroit?)
Quote“It’s a matter of mind-set far more than affordability,†says William Draves, president of Learning Resources Network, an association that studies consumer trends and provides education and training services.
“This generation focuses its buying on computers, BlackBerrys, music and software and views commuting a few hours by car a huge productivity waste when they can work using PDAs while taking the bus and train,†says Draves.
I hope Jacksonville's leaders can grow to embrace this. If you want to slow brain drain and be a place that attracts skilled and educated workforces, you're going to have to develop your city to be a place that embraces the culture of those you seek to attract. Outer Beltways, 9Bs, $60 million overpasses on Kernan and running everything out to Cecil and the Southside aren't going to get you there.
Quote from: chipwich on October 03, 2010, 11:46:45 PM
I also think this article is stretching reality. Young people almost always like cars.
maybe so, but think about this.....they want to be texting and web searching....much easier to do that when someone else is driving
It'll swing the other way, give it a few years.
I'm 31 and my wife is 28. You could never take our (used, several-year-old) cars from us. The automobile provides personal freedom that public transportation just doesn't.
Though I'd love to use public transportation to get to work. That'd be fantastic.
Two people, two cars. Think of the savings (maybe new car?) if one of you could take public transportation to and from work. Two people, two jobs; ONE car.
If you like cars and driving, you need to support good public transportation options. Less traffic, and maybe more importantly, less people who DON'T want to drive on the road, would make for a more enjoyable experience. Also, if you don't need to drive everywhere all the time, it would be easier to have a two seat sports car or a classic muscle car that would be impractical for daily commuting.
Quote from: Bativac on October 04, 2010, 10:21:48 AM
It'll swing the other way, give it a few years.
I'm 31 and my wife is 28. You could never take our (used, several-year-old) cars from us. The automobile provides personal freedom that public transportation just doesn't.
Though I'd love to use public transportation to get to work. That'd be fantastic.
We should probably think about the reasons why people feel as though they have little personal freedom without a car. Something tells me it has to do with planning...
Quote from: Dog Walker on October 04, 2010, 10:44:10 AM
Two people, two cars. Think of the savings (maybe new car?) if one of you could take public transportation to and from work. Two people, two jobs; ONE car.
We'd still keep both cars. My wife drives a pickup which is indispensable for hauling - random pieces of furniture, helping friends move, etc. I own a Honda which is more economical, gas-wise, for long trips.
Of course, we'd have to use them a lot less if public transportation in Jax was more efficient than a 2 hour bus ride to go 7 miles. I'd love to see some kind of rail or something in Jax. I wouldn't even mind if they extended the Skyway all over town. But I don't think Jax is full of 20 and 30somethings eager to trade their cars in for taking the train. Most of my friends with those mindsets left town for New York, Chicago, San Francisco...
Quote from: Bativac on October 04, 2010, 12:00:09 PM
But I don't think Jax is full of 20 and 30somethings eager to trade their cars in for taking the train. Most of my friends with those mindsets left town for New York, Chicago, San Francisco...
This is exactly the problem.
Quote from: Lunican on October 04, 2010, 11:58:11 AM
Quote from: Bativac on October 04, 2010, 10:21:48 AM
It'll swing the other way, give it a few years.
I'm 31 and my wife is 28. You could never take our (used, several-year-old) cars from us. The automobile provides personal freedom that public transportation just doesn't.
Though I'd love to use public transportation to get to work. That'd be fantastic.
We should probably think about the reasons why people feel as though they have little personal freedom without a car. Something tells me it has to do with planning...
Not just planning on the users side, but also lots of options in public transportation. For instance, we typically try to schedule a day to do all our shopping. We have to plan appropriately to make sure all the "cold" food items are last on the list. Add to that, where do I put all my stuff to support this household? There is not room on the bus, and I do not want to haul it around all day and figure out how to get it home on the bus, nor do I want to have to do this over multiple days. Then, waht about larger items that are not typically delivered? How do I get my orange tree on the bus? What about people with Children that have to be different places around the same time? It gets inherently more difficult if you are a homeowner or parent, or just have a large household. Cars do make it much easier.
If everything were closer together none of those things you listed would be much of an issue.
Have you seen the zip car stuff: http://www.zipcar.com/
Go online and get a car to run errands, take a trip, go to a business meeting. There's a little calculator to figure out how much owning a car costs you and calculate your savings with zipcar http://www.zipcar.com/atlanta/is-it/savings-calculator
Big problem: Gainesville and Miami are the only two places in Florida with ZipCar.
Lunican you are absolutely correct! Also if we had a great affordable delivery company that would work too! I used one in Minneapolis and loved it.
ZIP car is another option I would certainly use esp if they have drop off and pick up service :-)
Edit Disclosure, I am not twenty something though '-)
Quote from: Dog Walker on October 04, 2010, 10:44:10 AM
Two people, two cars. Think of the savings (maybe new car?) if one of you could take public transportation to and from work. Two people, two jobs; ONE car.
EXACTLY how we do it in our household - although it's not so great when the public transportation won't run as late as someone's job schedule and we have to drive across town at 10:30 at night. >:(
And the irony of this is that he actually sells cars!
Quote from: Jumpinjack on October 04, 2010, 02:04:09 PM
Have you seen the zip car stuff: http://www.zipcar.com/
Go online and get a car to run errands, take a trip, go to a business meeting. There's a little calculator to figure out how much owning a car costs you and calculate your savings with zipcar http://www.zipcar.com/atlanta/is-it/savings-calculator
Big problem: Gainesville and Miami are the only two places in Florida with ZipCar.
Exactly right. The article mentioned car sharing, and you can't leave it out of the equation. Also biking, and walking, and even old-fashioned car rental. You don't have to own a pick-up just for the occasional haul; renting one when needed saves a ton of money. Bike rentals are a must, too, in our future. Ditching the car is not only about transit. It's about options, alternatives, choices. That is inseparable from design.
The Netherlands is considered a pretty suburban area by European standards. Car ownership is high, single-family (attached) houses are more the standard than canyons of flats. High-rises are rare. Yet because different ideals from American suburban life -- importance of community and closeness, preservation of the countryside, and close access to shops -- 70% of trips are by bike. Young and old, all weather. We can't do that here, by design. But the point is...
it doesn't take New York or San Francisco density. It takes reasonable densities and smart design, which don't conflict with the ideals of the community. Jacksonville's densest areas hardly top 7,000 ppsm, but suburbs -- detached houses, yards and all -- can top twice that number, even thrice, when planned for anything other than cars. And there are examples of that not just abroad, but here in the US. There's a lot of room for improvement... it's not as if we've reached high densities and can't figure out how to live without cars. We're simply built for them.
Just for fun, in comparison, the city of Sao Paulo fits 11 million in an area 200 sq miles
smaller than Jacksonville proper, and it has a middle-class suburb, Guarulhos, that has our entire metro population (1.3 miliion) in only 120 sq miles.
The younger are more globally connected and see urban living through different eyes than their parents did, focusing not solely on the blighted inner cities of past decades within our borders, but the long-vibrant cities and towns outside them, and the common threads they share, which our cities have lost and are slowly regaining. There's a greater variation to how cities are organized than our own model, and I think younger American generations are more aware of that and desire perks of what world cities offer. And not just in our New Yorks and Chicagos, but in the Richmonds, Omahas, Jacksonvilles, too.
I think the huge drop in ownership is really a result of two people, one car compared to my parents generation which was two people, two cars. Unfortunately, Jacksonville mass transit sucks! My partner and I survived for over a year with only one car, but then when his job moved, it was virtually impossible so we had to break down and get another vehicle. I have many friends who live in Minneapolis, New York, Denver, Atlanta, etc who all make their lives work well with only one vehicle. It isn't so easy here. :-[