Car buying trends for Millennials

It’s a common misconception that the Millennial generation couldn’t care less about cars. This idea is born out of a trend that’s been evident for the past few years and seems to reflect the tendency to delay other things, such as buying a home or tying the knot with a significant other.

The truth is however that Millennials do buy cars and in fact, their presence is robust enough to transform the automobile market.

Surveys continually show that most Millennials who are actively searching for a car prioritize affordability. They also typically seek cars that are smaller and easier to operate within an urban setting. What’s more, the interest in alternative-powered and eco-friendly vehicles seems to be unusually high within this generation, compared to older shoppers.

Another trend car dealerships have noticed is that Millennials tend to be less certain to know what they want when searching for cars. Most of them would go into the car buying process with no idea whatsoever; interestingly enough, however, the same people would have a clear vision by the time they come into the showroom. Experts argue that this car buying trend has to do with the way Millennials conduct research – in general, a seemingly larger number of Millennials admit on researching trends online versus other generations. This leads to another trend – Millennials are interested in the tech aspects of the vehicle they’re purchasing. As this generation tends to be more tech savvy than the baby boomers, for instance, you can expect them to find things such as collision avoidance systems, back-up cameras, and self-healing paints of particular importance.

The car dealerships have to cater to one other thing unique to Millennials shoppers – personalization. Unlike other generations, Millennials look for a vehicle that can be completely personalized according to their choice. This includes but is not only limited to color schemes and interior styles – in fact, studies suggest that interior customization might be even more important to them than exterior! In general, previous generations have defined success in terms of independence; Millennials however are looking for a way to be unique, to stand out from the crowd, and when they search for cars, they want their vehicles to reflect that.