**The Myth of Millennials Killing the Auto Industry**

In 2014, Toyota revealed their u squared concept car, designed to reflect the lifestyle and needs of an entrepreneurial urban driver. It was super practical but frankly pretty ugly, which shouldn't be a surprise considering Toyota had an entire brand centered around ugly but practical cars for young people fifteen years ago.

Scion's lineup was composed of just two models: the compact XA and the boxy iS all-hel xB. But the xB was a big hit, especially among old folks who loved its practicality, economy, and ease of entry. The driver's seat was positioned so that you barely had to crouch to enter, making it perfect for those with mobility issues.

Despite the bizarre marketing campaigns and genuine attempts to foster an assigned community, Scion's sales weren't driven by millennials; instead, they were old people who appreciated the xB's practicality. When the economy tanked, younger people couldn't afford new cars, and when sales recovered, Scion's brand perception shifted from young people mobiles to Toyota's B team.

The brand never achieved the stranglehold on the millennial market that it wanted and was eventually folded back into Toyota in 2016. Rest in peace, Scion.

According to the Federal Reserve, economic factors rather than preference are behind the decline in millennial car ownership. A study compared the finances of people aged 25-34 in 2013 and those in the same age group in 1989 and found that when adjusted for inflation, the younger group earns 20% less than the older group.

This discrepancy is not just a matter of preference; it's also reflected in the rate of home ownership, which has dipped while the cost of living has gone up. Young people aren't killing the auto industry intentionally; they just don't have enough money to keep the industry healthy.

However, millennials do have some disposable income, and it's used for buying cars – but not new ones. According to The Wall Street Journal, demand for used cars was at an unusually high level this summer, with nearly 40 million used cars sold last year, double the amount of new cars sold.

Buyers looking at three-year-old vehicles would save $13,000 on average compared to a brand-new car, making used cars more attractive than ever. This cultural shift from car ownership to leasing means that there are now more gently-used off-lease cars available as used cars from original dealers.

Automakers can't blame millennials for this trend; the reality is that cars aren't cheap to make, and tariffs haven't helped. It's time to calm down and accept that every generation looks down on the one that succeeds them. Millennials are not just selfie-obsessed ego-maniacs concentrated in big cities like we're led to believe.

Millennial only refers to when you were born, and there are millions of millennials just like the ones who grew up in small towns, who love and need cars too. We don't want to see them go any less than anyone else.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enGeneration Y the entitled ones Millennials we've been called everything from tech-savvy and motivated to lazy and plain egotistical we also state level radicals all right sorry but a new media trend has emerged centered around blaming Gen Y for killing great pillars of American commerce like casual dining real estate diamonds and even napkins are you really gonna miss napkins I mean really today on wheelhouse we're asking our Millennials killing college generally people use millennial to refer to people in their 20s right now but the term millennial was actually coined in 1987 by authors William Strauss and Neil Howe they used it to describe kids who were born in 1982 who'll be graduating high school in the year 2000 generally if you were born between 1980 and 2000 your millennial I guess that means someone who's 38 is technically a millennial well I wonder what I'll be like when I'm 38 by now I think we've all heard from online publications that Millennials are killing cars that they're just not as into them as their parents and grandparents were I mean look at this picture from TrueCar I don't think you can find a more cliched depiction of the Millennial archetype for some reason this lady is wearing a fedora which were on their way out by 2008 and her friend is wearing a flat rim cap and she's in the backseat for some reason even though they look like friends there's a lot going on here and I feel like I'm getting sidetracked so is it true that Millennials are driving less the first statistic we should look at is Generation Y's car ownership it is true that Millennials as a group owned fewer cars than their parents did when at the same age one hypothesis as to why this is is that demographically younger people are starting to move to more population dense areas since these bigger cities have public transit systems you don't really need a car to get around a Transit Center study found that Millennials don't attach as much of a stigma to public transportation as older Americans do the same goes for ride-sharing services like lyft or uber but in that case it's just that their parents can't figure them out and won't share their credit card information because they saw a post on your answer Facebook page that their account was hacked it makes sense that with increased access to these driving alternatives Millennials are fine with not owning a car but there are other factors at play let's look to a car company who actively tried to court the elusive millennial buyer in 2014 Toyota revealed their u squared concept car apparently designed to reflect the lifestyle and needs of an entrepreneurial urban driver it was super practical but frankly pretty ugly which shouldn't be a surprise considering Toyota had an entire brand centered around ugly but practical cars for young people fifteen years ago scions lineup was composed of just two models the compact XA and the boxy is all hel xB but the xB was a big hit the Cubist hated her Leavitt styling was polarizing for sure but no one could say it was boring despite the bizarre marketing campaigns and genuine attempts to foster assigned community a growing segment of their sales weren't the millenials it was old people it turns out that the xB was the perfect car for old folks it was practical economical and most importantly easy to get in and out of the driver's seat was positioned so you barely had to crouch to enter all he had to do is plop your blood onto the seat and swing your legs in when the economy tanked that kept a lot of younger people from buying new cars and when sales did recover scions brand perception sifted from young people mobiles to Toyotas B team the brand never achieved the stranglehold on the Millennial market that they wanted and was eventually folded back into Toyota in 2016 rest in peace Scion I'll never forget senior sheeple commercial on g4 tech TV and thinking what the hell was that so even when automakers try their best to appeal directly to Millennials it doesn't really work out but again that doesn't answer if Gen Y is really killing the auto industry so what's going on well like most questions the answer is all about money according to the Federal Reserve economic factors rather than preference are behind the decline in millennial car ownership the Fed compared the finances of people aged 25 to 34 in 2013 and people in that same age group in 1989 what the study found is that when adjusted for inflation the younger group earns 20% less than the older group that's quite a bit and that's not all they found the rate of home ownership dipped while the cost of living has gone up that's crazy young people aren't killing the auto industry at least not intentionally Millennials just don't have any money to keep the industry healthy with what Millennials do have a little money for at least is used cars according to The Wall Street Journal demand for used cars was at an unusually high level this summer nearly 40 million used cars were sold last year which is double the amount of new cars according to edmunds.com near new vehicles offer greater savings now than they ever have before buyers looking at three-year-old vehicles would save $13,000 on average compared to a brand new car that's significant there's also been a cultural shift from car ownership to leasing a car this means more gently-used off lease cars are available as used cars from original dealers unless automakers do something to make their cars cheaper they can expect to lose new car sales to the used market but it's not entirely their fault either because cars aren't cheap to make and unless something is done about those tariffs we talked about a few weeks ago that's not gonna change either look it's easy to blame Millennials for a lot of things every generation looks down on the one that succeeds them in fact I'll bet the Greatest Generation thought baby boomers were gonna kill cars too because those kids weren't building rad hot rods in the garage like they were it's a vicious cycle we all need to calm down Millennials aren't just selfie obsessed ego maniacs concentrated in big cities like we're led to believe millennial only refers to when you were born and there are millions of Millennials just like the ones I grew up with in my small town that love and need cars too and we don't want to see them go any less than anyone else thanks for watching wheelhouse we take a look at the issues that affect you in the car world every week so hit that yellow subscribe button spread about here I mentioned tariffs earlier check out this episode right here check out this sick episode of up to speed awesome follow me on instagram at nolan j sites for a doughnut at dona media be nice see you next timeGeneration Y the entitled ones Millennials we've been called everything from tech-savvy and motivated to lazy and plain egotistical we also state level radicals all right sorry but a new media trend has emerged centered around blaming Gen Y for killing great pillars of American commerce like casual dining real estate diamonds and even napkins are you really gonna miss napkins I mean really today on wheelhouse we're asking our Millennials killing college generally people use millennial to refer to people in their 20s right now but the term millennial was actually coined in 1987 by authors William Strauss and Neil Howe they used it to describe kids who were born in 1982 who'll be graduating high school in the year 2000 generally if you were born between 1980 and 2000 your millennial I guess that means someone who's 38 is technically a millennial well I wonder what I'll be like when I'm 38 by now I think we've all heard from online publications that Millennials are killing cars that they're just not as into them as their parents and grandparents were I mean look at this picture from TrueCar I don't think you can find a more cliched depiction of the Millennial archetype for some reason this lady is wearing a fedora which were on their way out by 2008 and her friend is wearing a flat rim cap and she's in the backseat for some reason even though they look like friends there's a lot going on here and I feel like I'm getting sidetracked so is it true that Millennials are driving less the first statistic we should look at is Generation Y's car ownership it is true that Millennials as a group owned fewer cars than their parents did when at the same age one hypothesis as to why this is is that demographically younger people are starting to move to more population dense areas since these bigger cities have public transit systems you don't really need a car to get around a Transit Center study found that Millennials don't attach as much of a stigma to public transportation as older Americans do the same goes for ride-sharing services like lyft or uber but in that case it's just that their parents can't figure them out and won't share their credit card information because they saw a post on your answer Facebook page that their account was hacked it makes sense that with increased access to these driving alternatives Millennials are fine with not owning a car but there are other factors at play let's look to a car company who actively tried to court the elusive millennial buyer in 2014 Toyota revealed their u squared concept car apparently designed to reflect the lifestyle and needs of an entrepreneurial urban driver it was super practical but frankly pretty ugly which shouldn't be a surprise considering Toyota had an entire brand centered around ugly but practical cars for young people fifteen years ago scions lineup was composed of just two models the compact XA and the boxy is all hel xB but the xB was a big hit the Cubist hated her Leavitt styling was polarizing for sure but no one could say it was boring despite the bizarre marketing campaigns and genuine attempts to foster assigned community a growing segment of their sales weren't the millenials it was old people it turns out that the xB was the perfect car for old folks it was practical economical and most importantly easy to get in and out of the driver's seat was positioned so you barely had to crouch to enter all he had to do is plop your blood onto the seat and swing your legs in when the economy tanked that kept a lot of younger people from buying new cars and when sales did recover scions brand perception sifted from young people mobiles to Toyotas B team the brand never achieved the stranglehold on the Millennial market that they wanted and was eventually folded back into Toyota in 2016 rest in peace Scion I'll never forget senior sheeple commercial on g4 tech TV and thinking what the hell was that so even when automakers try their best to appeal directly to Millennials it doesn't really work out but again that doesn't answer if Gen Y is really killing the auto industry so what's going on well like most questions the answer is all about money according to the Federal Reserve economic factors rather than preference are behind the decline in millennial car ownership the Fed compared the finances of people aged 25 to 34 in 2013 and people in that same age group in 1989 what the study found is that when adjusted for inflation the younger group earns 20% less than the older group that's quite a bit and that's not all they found the rate of home ownership dipped while the cost of living has gone up that's crazy young people aren't killing the auto industry at least not intentionally Millennials just don't have any money to keep the industry healthy with what Millennials do have a little money for at least is used cars according to The Wall Street Journal demand for used cars was at an unusually high level this summer nearly 40 million used cars were sold last year which is double the amount of new cars according to edmunds.com near new vehicles offer greater savings now than they ever have before buyers looking at three-year-old vehicles would save $13,000 on average compared to a brand new car that's significant there's also been a cultural shift from car ownership to leasing a car this means more gently-used off lease cars are available as used cars from original dealers unless automakers do something to make their cars cheaper they can expect to lose new car sales to the used market but it's not entirely their fault either because cars aren't cheap to make and unless something is done about those tariffs we talked about a few weeks ago that's not gonna change either look it's easy to blame Millennials for a lot of things every generation looks down on the one that succeeds them in fact I'll bet the Greatest Generation thought baby boomers were gonna kill cars too because those kids weren't building rad hot rods in the garage like they were it's a vicious cycle we all need to calm down Millennials aren't just selfie obsessed ego maniacs concentrated in big cities like we're led to believe millennial only refers to when you were born and there are millions of Millennials just like the ones I grew up with in my small town that love and need cars too and we don't want to see them go any less than anyone else thanks for watching wheelhouse we take a look at the issues that affect you in the car world every week so hit that yellow subscribe button spread about here I mentioned tariffs earlier check out this episode right here check out this sick episode of up to speed awesome follow me on instagram at nolan j sites for a doughnut at dona media be nice see you next time