These consumers, ages 19 to 36 and known as Generation Y, are also three times more likely than their parents to abandon car ownership if costs escalate, consulting firm Deloitte LLP said in the study.
Many delayed buying cars during the economic downturn and are open to options like renting cars from Zipcar
Being in the automotive industry, this comes up in conversation pretty often. fewer people driving cars because they cant afford them or because they don’t need them in big cities; which is where the population is inevitably moving…
both of my brothers have never owned a car and most of my cousins (33 - 40 years old) have had one car, given to them used by their parents a decade ago, and only drive it occasionally… or, they’ve also never owned a car. In fact, of the 14 people in my generation in my family, other than me, i have only one cousin or sibling who has had consistent car ownership since being a teenager.
and yet OE’s are still somehow setting records for vehicles sold… i guess emerging markets account for a lot or all of that.
This is one of those things where the variables involved are too many to list.
One of them is the fact that our generation has the ability to communicate so easily with mobile phones, order things from the internet, etc. All of this decreases the necessity of travel regardless of where you live geographically.
Certainly an interesting topic of conversation. My brother has lived in brooklyn for north of 4 years and is happy he doesn’t have to deal with the burdeon of owning a vehicle.
It’s weird that you posted this because on the way home today, I passed a guy waiting for the bus who looked to be very well off by his demeanor and the way he was dressed. It made me wonder if I didn’t have a car, how I would get around. This was not in the city either. Sometimes I wish I didn’t have a car, along with a cell phone, computer, or a mortgage. Then I snap back to reality and realize I would not enjoy it.
One of my buddies went to visit his ex in Pittsburgh. He made it from Buffalo to Pittsburgh taking a Greyhound and public transportation to her place and will do the same to get back. To someone who owns a car and pretty much has since I was able to drive, it just seemed odd, but I was kind of jealous at the same time.
my brothers are right when they say that not having a car frees up sooooooooo much money for other crap… it’s probably part of the reason rents and real estate go at such a premium in the city (not buffalo). my brothers literally save like $1000 a month not having a car; no payment, no gas, no insurance, no parking, no maintenance… $12,000 a year saved easily… heck i know some of us spend way more than that happily each year.
yeah i def see the potential for savings but you really have to be in one of the few cities that have halfway decent public transport (NYC, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Fran, Chicago)
yeah, that $1000 a month though… that’s just for one car… imagine going from 2 or 3 cars (as a family) down to 0… you service a pretty srs mortgage with that.
I make this drive all the time…very easy 3 hour ride…absolutely terrible on a bus…I went from state college pa to Atlanta on a bus once…never ever again
Rode a lot of fast rains in Europe…that was okay but will never exist here other than on the east coast
Cost of having a car keeps going up every year if I was still living in Europe I would be wearing tight pants and not owning a horseless carriage aka a car many of us consider a necessity these days