63% of Portuguese millennials (NDR: born in the early 1980s until near the end of the century) choose to drive a car instead of having to use public transport, with 71% stating that the change in preference was mainly due to the lower risk of transmission of COVID-19 when traveling by car.
These are the main conclusions of the CarNext.com Millennial Car Survey 2020 , a survey that also concludes that more than half (51.6%) of Portuguese between 24 and 35 years old are more likely to drive to a special occasion during the festive season compared to last year. 50% of millennials also say that, as they get older, they prefer using their own car rather than using public transport.
Considering trips to points of sale, 41% of Portuguese drivers consider online purchases, with 56% saying that this option allows a longer search time.
Luis Lopes, Managing Director of CarNext.com, says that until now millennials were the generation that most depended on public transport, but the pandemic has changed the way this group thinks about mobility.
“Although millennials express less fear of the COVID-19, they now see the private car as the safest option in the new normal,” he says.
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The head of CarNext.com says this is a fundamental shift in mindset. "An additional change we've seen is that half of the millennials surveyed will drive home during this year's vacation," he adds, reiterating that the safety and comfort of the private car is "even more important than ever."
The CarNext.com Millennial Car Survey was conducted in November 2020 by OnePoll, a market research firm, and includes responses from a total of 3,000 drivers aged between 24 and 35 in six countries: Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.
In each of the countries surveyed, the survey sample included 500 drivers with an equal gender split.
Consult Fleet Magazine for more articles on the automotive market.