Millennials are quickly becoming the largest generation in the country.
They make up a majority of America’s workforce and as a generation have huge buying power. Millennials also seem to be pretty misunderstood, so here are five facts you probably didn’t know about Millennial car shopping.
1. It turns out Millennials are still buying cars
Millennial car shopping is projected to account for 30 percent of the new vehicle sales in the U.S. in 2016, second only to the Baby Boomer generation. They also bought about four million cars and trucks last year.
2. They know what car they want going in
Over the past four years, new vehicle buyers tend to enter the purchasing process knowing the exact model they want and usually end up buying it. In 2016 so far, 35 percent of new car buyers knew the exact model they wanted and bought it.
3. Millennials take more time to decide on a vehicle
Millennials take an average of 16.9 weeks to decide what car to buy opposed to Baby Boomers, which take an average of 15.7 weeks. Millennials also consider more vehicles on average than Baby Boomers.
4. Millennials do most of their research online
Millennials do more of their business online and use more content to find their vehicle. They are more likely to find their vehicle through online mechanisms than Baby Boomers at a rate of 38 percent to 28 percent.
5. They still make first contact with dealers in person
Despite these facts, both half of Millennials and Baby Boomers reported making their initial dealer contact by actually walking into the dealership. So although they do more research online, they still end up coming in to seal the deal.
As Millennials start to accumulate more of the market’s purchasing power, car companies will likely do everything in their power to accommodate them.
