GENERATION Z will dramatically transform the mobility sector, according to industry analysts Frost & Sullivan.
The post Millennial Gen-Zers – or digital natives born between 1994 and 2010 – will find traditional methods of mobility less appealing. Gen Z attitudes will push mobility from brand-centric, single ownership paradigms to integrated, multi-modal usage, believes Frost & Sullivan.
And will compel automotive manufacturers to reassess long-established strategies centred on car ownership
Gen Z accounts for about 24% of the world’s population, or 1.8 billion people. It is expected to be the most ethnically diverse and tolerant generation yet. It is also socially and environmentally aware, and fiscally conservative.
For OEMs, these characteristics will have far-reaching impacts. Brands will no longer be the focal point for a generation that is shaped by constant connectivity and ready access to information, and receptive to non-formal channels of communication, says Frost & Sullivan.
It also suggests that financially conscious Gen Zers are more likely to be concerned with vehicle price and safety and more comfortable with autonomous vehicles. Function will become more critical (represented by the vehicle’s interior design) rather than a car’s exterior form.
Lynne Goulding, Principal Consultant in Frost & Sullivan’s Visionary Innovation Group, said:
“The automotive industry is starting to explore what Gen Z wants in a car. Designing specifically for digital natives means dispensing with standard assumptions behind automotive design.
“As Gen Z will be more concerned with the interior of the vehicle than the exterior, we will see OEMs place more emphasis on technology and personalisation. For example, deep machine learning and predictive processes will mean that, with each journey, vehicles will become more familiar with user likes and preferences.”
Goulding said that owning and driving a vehicle are no longer central themes in the mobility landscape. In the UK, for example, the number of young adults (aged 17 to 20) with driving licenses has fallen by a staggering 40% since the 1990s. Such changes have been driven by a range of factors, including young people having families later in life, the cost of vehicle ownership, and the emergence of alternative modes of mobility, especially in cities.
Cities will be where Gen Z’s mobility preferences are most rapidly shaped. “Many cities across the world are encouraging shared and public transport over private vehicle ownership, paving the way for a seamless and multi-modal mobility system. In the future, it is likely that Gen Z will be mode-agnostic, choosing whichever mode gets them from one place to another most efficiently, based on preferences such as time, cost, and environmental impact,” Goulding noted.
This significant shift will be one of the key topics for discussion at this month’s Frost & Sullivan flagship event on Intelligent Mobility, revolving around ‘Gen Z and Mobility: Consumer Attitudes and Preferences towards Mobility and Vehicle Ownership’.
Frost & Sullivan will evaluate these and many other aspects of new mobility business models and the digital transformation of the automotive industry at its tenth annual Intelligent Mobility event, taking place at the Jumeirah Carlton Hotel in London on June 19-20.
Business Car Manager is a media partner of the Intelligent Mobility conference. To attend, visit www.intelligentmobilityevent.com.
