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A study finds many younger consumers’ mobility choices are shifting away from vehicle ownership. Could America’s love affair with the automobile be coming to an end?

Given the outsized role automobiles have traditionally played in America’s culture, economy, and collective psyche, it may come as a surprise that increasing numbers of younger Americans say they would be more willing than older generations to abandon car ownership in favor of alternative modes of transport.

According to findings from Deloitte’s 2014 Global Automotive Consumer Study, which examines the attitudes 23,000 consumers across 19 countries have about cars, mobility, and technology, only 64 percent of U.S. Generation Y consumers—those born between 1977 and 1994—say their preferred mode of transport is a car they own, compared to 81 percent of consumers representing other generations.

Several factors are driving this generational shift. While 80 percent of Gen Y consumers (numbering 64 million in the U.S. alone) are expected to purchase a car in the next five years, their need to own a vehicle is evolving into a need for access to transportation. Increasingly Gen Y is finding this access through alternative mobility options like ride sharing, car sharing, and public transportation, among others.

More than other generations, however, Gen Y wants a customer experience that differs markedly from the one many auto dealers currently offer (only 27 percent of Gen Y respondents described their recent auto purchase experiences as “positive”). Moreover, Gen Y consumers also find the customer experience three times more important than vehicle design when making their final purchasing decision. For automakers, this particular finding underscores the importance of convenience around the entire customer experience and the need to deliver an exceptional experience at every touch point.

Cars for the “Technology Generation”

Referred to as the “technology generation,” Gen Y consumers have grown up in a connected world in which interactions with friends, family, and the world around them often involve technology. Their ability to immediately connect with anyone—at their convenience—has offset the need to own a vehicle to engage with others. To some degree, the vehicle has been supplanted by email, texting, video chats, and other connected technologies.

Yet Gen Y’s penchant for technology extends to vehicle technology as well. Gen Y survey respondents in six focus countries—the U.S., Germany, Japan, China, India, and Brazil—identify advanced vehicle technology as an important feature they desire in their personal cars. Interestingly, when asked to identify the area of greatest benefit expected from advanced vehicle technologies, Gen Y and other generation consumers in all six focus countries selected safety technologies like vehicle detection and crash avoidance systems over cockpit technologies that offer connectivity. They also desire technologies that increase their vehicle’s fuel efficiency, thereby reducing operational costs.

While there is agreement from Gen Y around the world on the desirability of advanced safety and crash avoidance technology, the same is not true for cockpit and connectivity technology. Gen Y consumers in developed economy markets (U.S., Germany, and Japan) show a significantly lower level of interest in the benefits of connectivity and cockpit technologies than their counterparts in Brazil, India, and China.

Perhaps Gen Y consumers in developed markets have become accustomed to the uninterrupted availability of personal smartphones and 24/7 connectivity. By comparison, cockpit technologies may seem limiting. Whatever the rationale, these study findings underscore one of the most complex challenges automakers face with respect to cockpit and connectivity technology—introducing new connectivity innovations at the same pace as the technology industry.

Moreover, Gen Y consumers around the world quickly and easily abandon older smartphone and tablet technology as soon as new innovations are available. These expectations are being transferred to their automotive experiences and present challenges for automakers that need to provide customizable cockpit technologies much more rapidly and at lower costs than they have been able to do thus far. Given the pace at which technology companies launch new and enhanced products, it will become increasingly challenging for automakers and their suppliers to keep pace.

Automakers will need to consider new business models and new business partners to meet consumer demand, particularly when it comes to these technologies. The likelihood of disruptions in the future in the automotive value chain seems to be high.

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