New research from Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book about Generation Z and delivers some information on how teen feel about owning a car, safety, self-driving and technology.
According to respondents, 92 percent of Gen Z own or plan to own a vehicle, and 97 percent have or plan to get a license. In fact, they look forward to it.
Generation Z places more importance on safety features than other generations did in their teen years: Gen Z teens (43 percent), followed by Millennials as teenagers (25 percent), Generation X as teenagers (11 percent) and Baby Boomers as teenagers (9 percent). Generation Z also values safety features (43 percent) over infotainment (35 percent). Their focus on safety is closely related to their sense of practicality.
More than half (54 percent) of Generation Z respondents find fully self-driving vehicles appealing. In fact, 47 percent of Generation Z respondents want most cars to drive themselves in the next 10 years. But once again, their safety concerns take the lead. When asked how the road would be impacted by autonomous vehicles, 61 percent of Gen Z teens think the roads will be safer. Forty-five percent of Gen Z teens surveyed think autonomous vehicles would ease concerns about distracted drivers, while 41 percent think these vehicles would lead to fewer accidents on the road.
Despite being technology natives, 65 percent say “lack of trust in the technology to work” is a barrier, while 41 percent cite concerns that the autonomous cars will not drive as well as people. When asked about varying levels of autonomous features they find appealing, 72 percent of Gen Z find basic features that allow the vehicle to assist in specific tasks most appealing, followed by advanced features (67 percent), limited self-driving features (60 percent) and fully self-driving features (54 percent).
Only one-quarter (26 percent) of Gen Z teens want to buy a car online in the future. In fact, this generation values the experience of buying a car, with 68 percent of Gen Z agreeing that face-to-face interactions are important. Test drives are critical for Gen Z, with 52 percent saying they need to test drive a vehicle two or more times before making a decision.
The national survey reveals the responses from more than 3,000 U.S. residents between the ages of 12 – 65 years old.