A study from CarGurus is saying that Gen Z buyers, born between the late 1990s and the early 2010s, is set to be the most open-minded and well-researched cohort of customers a dealership could wish to meet.
CarGurus’ Madison Gross says: “Younger buyers also value authenticity and transparency in a business.”
The Next Generation of Car Buyers study says that while 18-24 year old buyers want to buy a car ASAP, they are also happy to sit tight and really get to grips with researching the right car for them.
Also (and this might be or might not be good news) only a few Gen Z types begin the buying process with an allegiance to a specific manufacturer or model. So they are more open to viewing a wider range of cars than previous generations.
The CarGurus study of 1,512 people who have bought a car in the UK in the past four months, split participants into typical generational cohorts – Gen Z (18-24 years old), Millennials (25-39), Gen X (40-54) and Boomers (55-65). Gen Z revealed they were less likely to be certain of the type of the vehicle they would buy (43% of Gen Z vs 63% on average).
The make of vehicle (29% of Gen Z vs 47% on average), the amount of money they were willing to spend (35% of Gen Z vs 57% on average), whether to buy new or used (48% of Gen Z vs 70% on average) and whether to purchase or lease (Gen Z 51% vs 68% on average) were also decisions where the youngest cohort struggled.
With so many variables to resolve, only 41% of 18-24 year-olds claimed to feel very confident engaging in the buying process. Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, Gen Z also reported taking the longest average time to make a purchase – seven weeks vs four and a half for Gen X.
Interesting stuff, isn’t it?