Given their increasing influence on the auto industry, there are several different schools of thought about millennials and their approach (or ambivalence) toward driving and car-buying, many of which have been explored in this publication.

Here’s another: they might actually be quite interested in the certified pre-owned inventory on your lot — in fact, possibly more so than other generations.

Discussing some overall sales trends during a recent quarterly conference call, Cox Automotive chief economist Tom Webb had this say about Generation Y.

“The millennials certainly are not adverse to the CPO programs; probably more amenable to them than the overall population,” he said.

“Certainly they’re buying some new vehicles, but I think it’s rather illogical to assume that they’ll be like my generation where you move out to the suburbs and you put three cars in the garage,” Webb added.

This sentiment was reflected in some of the insight that Edmunds.com and its chief executive officer Avi Steinlauf shared with Auto Remarketing in March.

According to a study from Edmunds if a person age 35 or older bought a car from your dealership last year, chances are pretty good (68 percent) that car was used.

If someone in the millennial generation bought a car from you, the odds that it was used are even higher.  In fact, more than three-fourths (78 percent) of the vehicles that millennials bought last year were used.

The root of this, Steinlauf said in the March interview, is largely the price-point. Millennials, he said, were hit the hardest by the recession, and it has been “a little bit tougher for them to rebound,” thus making the used vehicle a more attractive option.  

But things eventually change.

“As they get older and their incomes increase, they start to mirror the broader population,” Steinlauf said.

As for certified pre-owned, the study didn’t specifically ask millennials about this segment, but Steinlauf emphasized that the assurance and warranty offered by CPO programs would likely be appealing to those in this crowd that value such certifications.

Along those same lines, quality of the vehicle itself is important to millennials.

What often gets lost in the shuffle in media coverage of this generation and the importance of technology, Steinlauf says, is that millennials aren’t just in it for the tech and gadgets.

Granted, many certainly appreciate these features; looking at overall results, four-fifths of Generation Y put a strong emphasis on having smartphone features integrated into the car, and close to two-thirds (62 percent) would spend more if the car was Wi-Fi connected.

But the study found that price, fuel economy and performance rank much higher than in-car technology

Or as Steinlauf put it, millennials “have their priorities straight.”
 

Staff Writer Nick Zulovich contributed to this report.