20% Of Millennials Don't Think A Car Will Be Necessary In 20 Years

As electric cars, gigafactories, ride sharing and autonomous driving develop, the auto industry is on its way to some severe disruption. Millennial preferences and attitudes toward cars mean we will see a big shift in the industry in the decades to come.

When Gene Munster of Loup Ventures sat down with Benzinga for an interview on Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA), the former Wall Street analyst speculated that we may significantly fewer car models in the future.

A new study from LendEDU documented the most recent automobile trends among millennials. 

The Highlights

1. Twenty-one percent of car-owning millennials do not believe cars will be necessary in 20 years
2. Fifty percent would prefer to buy a green car over a traditional car, while 43 percent would give up manually driving a car for a self-driving car
3. Thirty-four percent of of car-owning millennials see their car as a status symbol
4. Forty-nine percent used an auto loan to finance their car, while 45 percent were surprised by insurance costs.

If one were to assess millennial attitudes toward driving and the auto industry, one might assume the industry is doomed. The caveat? Generation Z is more keen on driving than the generation before them, and they have a preference for traditional, practical and trusted brands. Most prefer Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), General Motors Company (NYSE: GM)'s Chevrolet and Honda Motor Co Ltd (ADR) (NYSE: HMC).