Changing car habits an opportunity for bus?

Recent changes in young peoples’ perception of cars could provide an opportunity for bus operators. According to Glass’s, considered the largest vehicle data provider in Europe and creator of motoring guides, many younger buyers are viewing cars in a fundamentally different manner to their forebears in a way that could eventually lead to significant changes in the design and sale of cars. Generation Y and those younger are learning to drive later, driving less when they do learn and might not see a car as a key to personal freedom as traditionally viewed.

Head of Valuations at Glass’s, Rupert Pontin, said, ‘For decades, there was a set pattern to the way most cars were bought and sold, which often simply started with boys pinning pictures of Porsches and Ferraris to the walls of their bedrooms. Many people still have a genuine love of cars and they remain a status symbol but, for others, they are being seen less as a means to personal freedom and more as something like a domestic appliance. For “Generation Y” especially, this is true.’

Research by Glass’s has also suggested younger generations see connectivity as a key selling point for cars and that touchscreens were becoming the main in-vehicle interface. This could be viewed as further reason for operators to install Wi-Fi and other similar technology on their vehicles. Glass’s claims the ‘ultimate expression’ of this trend towards the car-as-domestic-appliance would be the arrival of the autonomous car.