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Auto manufacturers today are scratching their heads, trying to figure out why the millennial generation has little-to-no interest in owning a car. What car makers are failing to see is that this generation's interests and priorities have been redefined in the last two decades, pushing cars to the side while must-have personal technology products take up the fast lane.
It's no secret the percentage of new vehicles sold to 18- to 34-year-olds has significantly dropped over the past few years. Many argue this is the result of a weak economy, that the idea of making a large car investment and getting into more debt on top of college loans is too daunting for them. But that's not the "driving" factor, especially considering that owning a smartphone or other mobile device, with its monthly fees of network access, data plan, insurance, and app services, is almost comparable to the monthly payments required when leasing a Honda Civic.
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With recent studies showing a huge decline in auto sales among the millennial marketplace, it's no wonder auto manufacturers are in a mild state of panic, realizing they're missing out on a generation that wields $200 billion in purchasing power. Numbers don't lie, and over the last few years statistics have shown a significant drop in young people who own cars, as well as those with driver's licenses—and that decline continues among the youngest millennials, meaning this is not a trend that's going away anytime soon. From 2007 to 2011, the number of cars purchased by people aged 18 to 34, fell almost 30%, and according to a study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, only 44% of teens obtain a driver's license within the first year of becoming eligible and just half, 54% are licensed before turning 18. This is a major break with the past, considering how most teens of the two previous generations would race to the DMV for their license or permit on the day of their 16th birthday.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Nuke on Wednesday September 14 2016, @09:23AM
Dingus wrote :- Then your life is different from a lot of peoples'.
So is yours. I use phones when i need to, but the cost is trivial compared with other costs in my life. I don't understand how in a matter of about 20 years, phones have become such a major (or the major) expense in so many people's lives - a triumph of marketing I guess. In town I see about 30% of people are walking around with a mobile to their ear, which suggests that they are spending perhaps 20-25% of their waking lives on the phone. WTF for? Who is it at the other end who needs all that information? People did not need it before about 20 years ago.
At work I use the company phone. At home (in the UK) I have a landline costing me about 25 GBP per month (excluding internet connection which is another 15 GBP). Most of the calls from my landline are at an off-peak rate (because at peak rate times I am at work). I also have a PAYG dumb mobile that cost me about 50GBP eight years ago and I need top it up only occasionally because I use it only if I have a particular need to, not to unload verbal diarrhea.
(Score: 2) by SDRefugee on Wednesday September 14 2016, @03:31PM
Sure.. cellphones are expensive if you have to have the latest/greatest, and "unlimited" data/minutes/text.. But.. you can have a perfectly usable older smartphone that you BUY from ebay/swappa or many other places. and steer yourself to something like Ting, a MVNO on both tmobile/sprint's networks.. I have a not-so-new Nexus 4 on Android 5.1.1 that I paid $65 for on ebay and wife has a Nokia Windows phone we paid $35 for, and our phone bill each month is around $35 for the both of us using Ting.. We're not yakkers, and don't use a heck of a lot of data/text, so this works fine. I'm a geek, but I sure the hell don't need the latest/greatest and the heavy costs that accompany these things, since wife and I are retired...
America should be proud of Edward Snowden, the hero, whether they know it or not..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 16 2016, @05:38AM
And hey, that Android 5.1.1 is only wide open to a handful or two of glaring security vulnerabilities. Might be time to build 6.0 [androidpit.com] or later...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday September 14 2016, @05:34PM
"a triumph of marketing I guess"
I think the greatest triumph of marketing has to be bottled water. People actually PAY for a drink of water. And, in many cases, that water is of questionable origin and purity. Water. Ordinary tap water. People PAY FOR IT!! A dollar, a dollar and a half, two bucks, and more, for just a little drink of water.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Nuke on Thursday September 15 2016, @06:19PM
I think the greatest triumph of marketing has to be bottled water. .... Water. Ordinary tap water.
I agree. I was behind a delivery truck two days ago and the ad on the back made no bones about it being bottled tap water. "Mains water in a bottle" it said. Cannot remember the brand (I am in the UK btw). They probably stick it through a filter or something just to claim some added value. Jeez, even the Romans had mains water and we are going back to carting it around in bottles. Civilisation is sliding backwards - women will be fetching the bottles on their heads next.