What Cars Do Young Adults Drive?

Today young adults and teenagers don’t care about owning a car as much as their parents did. The numbers of new cars bought by 18- to 34-year-olds have significantly decreased over the past few years. For instance, in 1999 65% of potential drivers aged 19 or younger held a driver’s license, while in 2009 the percentage dropped to 47%. There has been a major generational shift in interests and priorities, pushing cars to the side. The Millennials care more about purchasing the latest personal technology products. A survey of 3,000 consumers aged 14-34 showed there is not a single car make among the top 10 most loved brands. Car brands are trying to make driving more attractive to the younger crowd making adjustments in their communication and engagement. General Motors hired a consultant from MTV, Ford collaborated with Zipcar to make its products more popular among students, while Honda introduced videos with a BuzzFeed-ready meerkat. One more important reason why the Millenials buy fewer cars is the fact that they’ve been having a harder time than their older peers. One of the worst recessions and a high level of student loan debt are among the factors that make car prices seem higher than ever. No wonder the median age for consumers purchasing a car is 52 years old. And what about the most popular car makes among the young? As research shows, preferences vary a lot depending on whether a new or old car is bought. Most popular car makes (new cars)rn1. Chevrolet rnThe list of the 10 most popular new cars among young buyers contains three models made by this American manufacturer. However, none of them is at the very top (Impala occupies the fourth line, Tahoe the fifth line, while Malibu is on the eighth line of the rankings).rn2. DodgernThe American manufacturer of cars, minivans, and sport utility vehicles has two models in the top 10 list: Charger (it is on the second line) and Challenger (the ninth line).rn3. HondarnTwo cars made by this Japanese brand are very popular among the Millenials: the Accord (holds the third line in the list) and the Civic (sixth line).rn4. Nissan, Ford, and Toyota rnThree more brands whose cars are loved by the young. It is worth pointing out, that Nissan Altima is at the top of the rankings, and therefore, is the most popular car among the buyers aged 34 or younger. Ford Mustang is on the seventh line, while Toyota Camry is on the tenth. Most popular car makes (used cars)rnDodge is the leader in this segment of market, having two of its cars on the top 10 list: the Magnum, which is the first, and the Durango, which occupies the ninth line.rnNo other car manufacturer can boast having two or more vehicles in the same rankings: all of them have only one model loved by the young. What are they? From the Chrysler’s range of cars young consumers chose the Pacifica, the most popular Subaru model is the WRX, while the TrailBlazer is the favorite one of all the Chevrolet products. These models are followed by Volkswagen Golf R32, Pontiac Aztek, Nissan GT-R, Saturn Outlook, and Lexus IS-F.rnIn what way can the list above reveal Millennials’ buying patterns? If there are any similarities among these models, they are reliability, impressive performance, and good value for money.