Struggling to find that perfect car? You’re not alone… affordability and lack of stock are still key concerns for new car buyers
Attracting a new, younger cohort of car buyers has long been a challenge for the automotive industry, and carsales’ most recent Buyer Sentiment study further underlines the issues that young people face when buying a new car.
While Generation Z (those born from 1997 onwards) buyers are actively engaged in looking for a new car, their budgets – unsurprisingly – are modest.
In fact, with 85 percent of study participants in this age bracket reporting that they plan to spend less than $30,000 on their next car, Gen Zs outrank every other age bracket by 73 percent in how little they want to spend.
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They are also looking for a new car for a longer period before making a purchase, with 42 percent of Gen Zers looking for longer than a month before buying.
That may well have something with the crunch of supply that currently faces both new and used car buyers.
Stock shortages thanks to microchip delays are well documented and are set to continue for at least another 12 to 18 months, which in turn has an indirect effect on the supply of used vehicles, which have increased in demand.
In fact, in this most recent study period, one in five potential used car buyers reported that they were unable to find a car that met their requirements.
Given the difficulty of finding a suitable car, this has led to around 66 percent of survey respondents reporting that they were yet to sell their current car, a jump of eight percent over survey results from October 2021.
There’s been a shift away from buying privately, too, with 11 percent of respondents keen to buy from a stranger compared to 16 percent from the last study period. However, most (54 percent) are open to buying from either a dealership or a private seller.
And in the wake of fuel price rises and EV incentives in place across most of the country, one in three respondents said that rising fuel prices have impacted the type of car they are looking to buy.
Of those who would consider an EV, 39 percent said they were more likely to buy an electric car given the rising fuel prices.
And with the recent resurgence of expensive fuel and the end of the fuel excise relief in sight, it’s likely that these percentages will increase.
Finally, the goalposts appear to be shifting in terms of brand loyalty, with just 20 percent of respondents likely to stay loyal to their current car brand.
Toyota and BMW fare the best when it comes to loyalty, with Mitsubishi, Honda and Subaru owners being the most likely to switch brands when it comes to buying their next car.
