You’ve heard the new conventional wisdom:
- Millennials aren’t interested in buying cars – they want public or shared transportation.
- Young people are putting off getting their driver’s licenses.
- The automakers are in trouble because Gen Y would rather have a smartphone than a car.
(Actually, that last one about phones being on the same level as cars is true.)
A new study from MRY echoes a key finding in Techsurvey10. Millennials value their vehicles – pretty much at the same level as everyone else:
This study reports that essentially everybody in their survey owns or leases a car.
But what about the car’s overall importance and value to people of different generations and genders? In TS10, we used an agree/disagree statement to find out:
“It is important for me to own (buy/lease) a car.”
Nearly three-fourths of the entire sample agree or agree strongly about the importance of having a vehicle in their driveways, carports, or garages.
And what about Millennials? Seven in ten of them (71%) agree or agree strongly about the value of owning (or leasing) a car.
Now the MRY study also notes that Gen Y respondents are more apt to use alternative transportation, and by a small margin, they are more comfortable with the notion of not owning a car.
But in the main, Millennials aren’t that different from you or me – they value money and their toys.
And yes, cars.
I’ll be moderating a session at Convergence 14 on Thursday afternoon that’s all about radio and the “connected car.” My featured panelists at Doug Sterne from Pandora, Toby Trevarthen (formerly with aha/Harman and now on his own), Roger Tsai with Gracenote, and Alan Taylor, talk show host from the Entertainment Radio Network who is all about radio and cars. Hope to see you there.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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