JD Power: Millennials Buying More New Vehicles Than Expected

Millennials giving up on cars? Not according to a recent J.D. Power study.

The study found a 118 percent increase in new-vehicle purchases by the group — defined by J.D. Power as those born between 1977 and 1994 — between 2010 and 2014, Fusion reports. The jump blows away sales increases among Gen-Xers and Boomers at 57 percent and 31 percent, respectively.

Within the period, millennials bought 3.7 million new vehicles last year, compared to just 1.7 million in 2010. The increase also merits a jump in their share of overall new-vehicle purchases, coming out to 28 percent versus 24 percent for Gen-X and 37 percent for Boomers.

Despite this, the group is continually cash-strapped. Only 8 percent of sales are made with cash, according to J.D. Power. Thus, millennials are turning toward financing their new vehicles, with 40 percent accounting for all loans with terms of six years and above.

Their rides are also reflective of what's in their wallets: millennials make up 30 percent of overall compact vehicle sales, and 25 percent of small car transactions. Average purchase price for a vehicle by a member of the group is $29,998.

Though there is a lack of data to compare millennial buying trends to those of older generations when the latter was their age, automotive analytics director Tim Dunne says the size of the millennial generation is helping to increase its share of new-vehicle sales over Gen-X, adding more members of their cohort are likely buying used over new.

[Photo credit: Daniel Oines/Flickr/CC BY 2.0]

The post JD Power: Millennials Buying More New Vehicles Than Expected appeared first on The Truth About Cars.

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