There's more bad news for the auto industry about Millennials – members of the 16-to-34 year old generation really don't want to buy cars and there are lots of them. Dave Mosher, projects editor for Popular Science, looked into a camera for his "rant" and gave five reasons why he and his peers are more than willing to find other ways to get around. Mosher admits up front that he should be someone addicted to cars – since he grew up spending a lot of time in his father's auto shop in Kettering, OH. Years later, as a boy scout he earned his Automotive Maintenance merit badge with ease.
Why would someone so fascinated with the inner workings of a car not be willing to buy one? Simple, he says: automakers aren't building the cars he wants to buy. He's speaking for his peers – about 90 million Millennials makes up the largest demographic group in the country, "and the auto industry's biggest headache," he says. Mosher has the statistics to back it up – young people drove 23 percent fewer miles in 2009 than in 2001; only two thirds of 16-to-24 year olds have a driver's license – the lowest rate since 1963; nearly a third of them live in cities and can ditch their car for a train, bus, cab, bike, or being a pedestrian.
Mosher offers five ways to get Millennials like him to buy a car, including making driverless cars available. "I'd rather sit in the back with some toddlers watching Finding Nemo for the 100th time or take a nap with the dog," he says. Second, use environmentally friendly parts and components when making the car. The metal, plastic, fuel and other materials have to originate somewhere, and that typically has negative ramifications for the environment. Mosher knows that even electric vehicles have a ways to go, since "the mining and toxicity of elements in their batteries are dubious at best," and need to be improved to get young people to care. You can see his other three points in the video below or over on PopSci.
Why would someone so fascinated with the inner workings of a car not be willing to buy one? Simple, he says: automakers aren't building the cars he wants to buy. He's speaking for his peers – about 90 million Millennials makes up the largest demographic group in the country, "and the auto industry's biggest headache," he says. Mosher has the statistics to back it up – young people drove 23 percent fewer miles in 2009 than in 2001; only two thirds of 16-to-24 year olds have a driver's license – the lowest rate since 1963; nearly a third of them live in cities and can ditch their car for a train, bus, cab, bike, or being a pedestrian.
Mosher offers five ways to get Millennials like him to buy a car, including making driverless cars available. "I'd rather sit in the back with some toddlers watching Finding Nemo for the 100th time or take a nap with the dog," he says. Second, use environmentally friendly parts and components when making the car. The metal, plastic, fuel and other materials have to originate somewhere, and that typically has negative ramifications for the environment. Mosher knows that even electric vehicles have a ways to go, since "the mining and toxicity of elements in their batteries are dubious at best," and need to be improved to get young people to care. You can see his other three points in the video below or over on PopSci.
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