European Generation Y consumers like to have trendy vehicles and project their social status through their vehicle. However, they also give a lot of importance to the value proposition, a Frost & Sullivan end-user survey showed.
The educated, affluent Generation Y consumer in France, Germany, Italy and the UK has a preference for new technologies and the personalisation of the vehicle. In-car systems related to entertainment are clearly preferred over information systems.
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“The personalisation rate is very high, specifically among the technology enthusiasts,” said F&S growth consulting head Franck Leveque. “More than 50% of the respondents indicated they would like to have voice/speech control of traffic/weather information, hands-free phone, fuel efficiency information, and MP3 player in the car. Other technologies, accepted to a lesser extent but still welcome, are vehicle health diagnosis, GPS services (yellow pages, local news), and news, if read aloud.”
At the same time, more than half of the respondents indicated an interest in being able to personalise the exterior and interior colour, air conditioning, MP3 player/connection, brake and tyre pressure monitoring. If the personalisation has to be paid for however, the most popular choice would be air conditioning, and exterior colour and blind spot assistance would come next.
Regarding car ownership, 14% of the surveyed Generation Y consumers demonstrated a preference to drive their own cars. “Many would participate in car pooling/car sharing, if it reduced costs significantly and helped the environment, despite the drawbacks of being dependent on other participants of the scheme,” Leveque added.
Nevertheless, the survey revealed significant differences in opinions on green values across European countries. Italy and France have higher shares of customers belonging to the environmentally friendly group than Germany and the UK, a result which is clearly at odds with the high standards of German environmental policies. The Italian and the French more often declared a willingness to pay more for green cars in comparison to the German or British interviewee.
If a European Gen Y member was able to build his or her own car, he/she would opt for a medium-size plug-in hybrid car with features such as an MP3-capable system and wired USB.
“Generation Y is the new defining generation with different values, beliefs, and attitudes compared to previous generations,” said Leveque. “The automotive industry needs to fully understand the environmental attitudes, transportation needs, and vehicle preferences of the Generation Y, as these are the future vehicle buyers who will be significantly different from present day drivers.”
