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posted by
martyb
on Wednesday December 19 2018, @04:34AM
from the now-they're-buying...trucks? dept.
from the now-they're-buying...trucks? dept.
General Motors has announced it's shuttering five production facilities and killing six vehicle platforms by the end of 2019 as it reallocates resources towards self-driving technologies and electric vehicles.
[...] North American car production hit 17.5 million vehicles in 2016, and dropped marginally to 17.2 million in 2017. Interesting, but perhaps not significant.
More telling are changes in driver behaviour. In North America, for example, fewer teens are getting driver's licences. In 1983, 92 per cent of teens were licensed, while by 2014, that number had dropped to 77 per cent. In Germany, the number of new licences issued to drivers aged 17 to 25 has dropped by 300,000 over the last 10 years.
Are we over our love affair with cars?
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(Score: 4, Insightful) by donkeyhotay on Wednesday December 19 2018, @04:14PM
As with many things, there is probably a combination of factors involved here. With regard to young people being less interested in cars: in my day, driving meant freedom and a chance to get out of the house, away from parents, and to socialize with your friends, etc. With social media and every teen having a smart phone, there is less of a need to get in your car and "get out there". Honestly, when I was a teen, most of what we were doing in our cars was mindless "cruising". Now teens can do their "cruising" virtually.