Green Hopes Pinned On The Young: Generation Y Has The Hots For Hybrids, Survey Says
The car industry has high hopes for the young. Automakers have invested and are investing billions into hybrid and electric vehicle, so far with lackluster success. In the U.S., the take rate of hybrid cars is actually coming down from a 2.78 percent peaklet in 2009. The 0.14 percent market share of EVs is too small to move the plotter’s needle. To recoup the investment, new tech vehicles have to be sold in more meaningful numbers. It is the generation Y that is supposed to set the needle in motion. A study of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu promises that Generation Y will make a humongous difference.
Generation Y could be the “generation that leads us away from traditional gasoline-powered vehicles,” Craig Giffi, who is in charge of Deloitte’s annual survey of Gen Y auto consumers, told the L.A. Times. The paper summarizes:
“According to the Deloitte survey, 59% of Gen Y respondents said they preferred an “electrified vehicle” over any other type of car or truck. They generally defined “electrified” as a hybrid gasoline-electric vehicle. Just 2% said they wanted a pure battery electric vehicle, which reflects the very small number of such cars that people are purchasing. Just 37% of the respondents preferred vehicles with the traditional gasoline-only powertrain.”
Giffi loves the Y generation, so much that he recklessly collides with TTAC’s jargon vigilantes: The enthusiasm for hybrid vehicles turns Gen Y consumers in the U.S. into “game changers,” Giffi said. And he continued:
“At nearly 80 million strong, they are one of the biggest automobile buying market segments and the largest consumer segment since the baby boomers.“
Sure, once they have a job and make money.
Let’s hope Generation Y sticks more to its principles than previous generations. I have seen study after study where customers announced their environmentally responsible intentions, only to reneg on their promise once they were in the showroom.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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I honestly do not see much difference between boomers, X-Gens and Y-Geners (like my son). The only difference is the technology available at time. The only real significant difference was between boomers and their parents. It was kind of cultural shift in 60s. But since then there was not much change. My son (Y-gen) told me that he relates to 60s, but hates 80s and 70s. 70s look especially weird to him - all that free sex, drugs, dirty long hair and hippie stuff. I also find 70s kind of disgusting, but like 80s, fashion and new wave sound. Do not care about 60s though seem kind of childish and naive to me. All that trashing of Y-geners by boomers do not make sense. Boomer had comfortable life while kicking can down the road and ignoring need for reforms. I want to warn boomers that if they continue to ignore need for reforms they will be in trouble - generation Y will be young enough to figure out how to survive. My farther thought the same way until our government defaulted and he had all his savings he was counting on were wiped out by hyperinflation at the time (early 90s) when he already retired and was in his 70s.
We'll see how this pans out. The Prius sells because it is an excellent piece of transportation. Nice room, comfortable, reliable, very high mileage. No driving enthusiasm, but many millions of buyers don't look for that anyway. The Fusion Hybrid is likewise an excellent vehicle. Some hybrids add weight and complexity for minimal mileage gain, while increasing cost and decreasing fun. They will continue to fail. Recent projections about Gen Y moving to the cities has already been shown to be false. They are trending to the suburbs and exurbs instead. So cars will be very important to them. As they have kids, they will want sizable cars, just like prior generations. I think we'll see more hybrid CUV type vehicles, pared with reasonably efficient entry luxury cars. A couple could have a hybrid CRV or RAV4, maybe a Camry, Prius or Fusion, plus a Mini, TSX, A-4, 328, Sonata or Optima turbo etc. That would still fit the survey results, with similar functionality to a Pilot plus V6 sedan combination.