Automakers Listening to What Gen Y Wants

DETROIT, Jan. 17, 2009 -- You could call them spoiled. Indulged. Pampered. Cosseted.

Generation Y, that group of young 'uns who are just starting to earn enough money to buy new cars, wants it all. They want vehicles full of gadgets. They don't want to haggle on price. They want cars with personality, great styling and cheap prices.

Heck, they even want to be able to easily change the color of their car a year or two after they bought it.

Call it what you want, but Gen Y — now pre-teens to 27-year-olds — is going to be a powerful force in the auto industry. By 2010, they should account for one in four vehicle sales, according to Deloitte Consulting. So the automakers are listening.

Last week, just before the North American International Auto Show press preview began, Deloitte brought in business students from five colleges around the U.S. to talk about what they think automakers need to do to attract business from their peers. They developed presentations based off their own work as well as a survey of their peers by Deloitte.

"We can either be a great opportunity for the automakers, or a threat to their survival," says Jason Jones, an MBA student from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash. "And Gen Y is already here — they need to start building brand loyalty in the Gen Y market now."

One of the most disturbing findings for automakers in Deloitte's survey was that 70% of this age group said they'd never work in the auto industry. It will be harder to get the product and message right if there are few young people designing and marketing cars.

"Automotive employers … have to overcome the very negative perceptions the auto industry has as being a good career choice," says Leah Reynolds, who specializes in generational work practices for Deloitte.

Michigan State student Todd Hagopian says Gen Y can sometimes seem hard to please, because they are ambitious, driven, quirky and infatuated with celebrities.

"People misunderstand what Gen Y wants," he says. "Just because we have three piercings does not mean we want something obnoxious. We just want good design."