Originally Posted by
Roody
I'll grant your second point but not your first. Doesn't the fact that fewer have licenses indicate that fewer are driving?
I believe the thrust of the article is that fewer are buying NEW cars. Not that fewer are driving, or even that fewer own cars. But fewer are buying NEW cars.
How many "NEW" cars have 16 to 19 year olds ever bought? And notice in the 20 to 24 year old group they didn't quantify the decrease in % of those who had licenses, just that it also decreased.
And finally - so in 1985 21 to 34 year olds bought 38% of "NEW" cars according to the stats, and that number is now 27% of "NEW" cars. Do you notice I"m emphasizing "NEW"? That's because the used car market in 1985 was
nothing like it is today, with a constant and huge supply of off-program (lease, rental fleet) cars coming on to the market which are probably very attractive to buyers in that age group. So of course they aren't buying "NEW" cars -they are buying used. But the auto industry set themselves up for that.
No, these statistics are completely irrelevant and misleading, and don't illustrate the point even one bit. I would guess that if you look at the % of people in that age group who OWN cars now versus the % who owned cars in 1985, the % now is much much higher.