Millennials trust the car industry, women don't

Tuesday, 17 December 2019

A new study from the UK shows Millenials have far more faith in the car industry than older generations.

While nobody particularly trusts car salesmen (sorry guys, but you only have yourselves to blame for that one…), here's a bigger question - do you trust the car industry?

Do you think the companies actually have social consciences, or even integrity? Or are they all just in it to make money and don't particularly care for society or the even planet in general?

New research from UK car buying site CarGurus shows that more people than you would probably think do and, surprisingly, it is the younger generations that have more faith in the industry than the older ones.

Millennials trust the car industry car salesman car buyers

According to the survey - a part of the CarGurus Car Buyer Trust Index - car buyers aged 18-34 trust the motor industry more than older generations. While older buyers are more cynical of the car industry's intentions, transparency and reliability, Generation Z and Millennial purchasers believe that automotive brands and businesses put consumer and societal interests first.

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The social conscience of a car brand is notably more important to young people, with 37 per cent saying they think the industry can be trusted to do the right thing for society.

That compares with 27 per cent of Generation X (those aged 35-54) respondents and just 15 per cent of Baby Boomers (55-64), with more than a third (36 per cent) of older buyers actively distrusting the intentions of automotive brands.

Overall, women view the car industry with far more suspicion than men, with only a 26 per cent of female buyers believing that it has their best interests at heart. A third of men (32 per cent) had more faith in the industry.

In order to establish what builds trust for buyers, the CarGurus Car Buyer Trust Index focused on five key factors: integrity, transparency, genuineness, social conscience and reliability. Overall, integrity - a brand delivering on its promises - was ranked as most important (81 per cent), followed by reliability (79 per cent), transparency (75 per cent) and genuineness (72 per cent).

In a conclusion that will no doubt not be a surprise to the car industry in the slightest, the report suggests that car brands should 'focus on highlighting their social and ethical credentials in order to cater for the increased importance placed on social conscience by younger buyers.'

Manufacturers also need to put in extra effort to win the trust of female car buyers by paying special attention to maintaining integrity and transparency - the two areas where women outweighed men with their concerns, 82 per cent vs 80 per cent and 78 per cent vs 72 per cent, respectively.

'The good news for the car industry is that the younger generation, which is crucial to the future of the sector, has a level of trust in car brands,' said Madison Gross, Director, Consumer Insights. 'The work that manufacturers are doing to move towards electrification and adopt a greener approach to building cars is, doubtless, playing a big part in engendering that trust.

'As these are the car buyers of tomorrow, it's important that businesses continue to enhance that relationship with Gen Z and Millennial buyers.

'However, it's clear that, despite recent efforts, more needs to be done by car makers in how they serve female car buyers. Studies show that women are quite often the key shopping decision-makers in relationships. Despite this, the car industry is historically a male-dominated environment. That needs to change if the sector is to harness the power of the female buyer.'