Gen Z is not interested in owning a car or driving license

Generation Z doesn’t feel the need to own a car. In fact, some people are not even interested in driving licenses.

The young generation does not feel the need to own a car

Owning your own car used to be a status symbol. It turns out that trends change – and owning a car is nothing special anymore … well, at least in the case of Generation Z, i.e. the generation of people born in the second half of the 90s and the first decade of the 21st century, i.e. people who have recently entered the adulthood.

The same applies to the driving license itself. Young people simply do not feel the need to be able to drive a car – and even if they get a “licence”, they do not think about buying their own car. Olgierd Szyłejko, country manager of BlaBlaCar in Poland, says:

The BlaBlaCar report “Zero Empty Seats” shows that almost two-thirds of those using the BlaBlaCar application have a driving license, but do not drive, and 28 percent do not need to get a “paper” at all. The social pressure to drive is no longer what it was a few years ago. Not everyone likes, wants and needs to drive, which is why we observe the trend of a decreasing number of drivers more and more often – the “Z” simply said it out loud.

How does all this translate into numbers?

The report also shows how it looks in numbers – so it’s not empty information. According to the BlaBlaCar report, in 2022 over 40,000 fewer driving licenses were issued than a year earlier and over 120,000 fewer (!) than in the record year 2016. So there is a huge gap in just seven years.

When it comes to cars, in 2022 a record few passenger cars were registered in Poland. There were about 420,000, which is the worst result in six years and a decrease of 6 percent compared to 2021.

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Why such a change?

But what caused this change? According to the report, a car today is not the greatest indicator of success or value, especially for younger generations. According to the data, four years ago, half of us identified our own vehicle with a higher social status of the owner. However, the approach to spending is constantly evolving, and in a world of young adults with small savings, the vision of buying your own car can be distant. Paradoxically, this is a similar topic to the Otodom and JLL report on changes in preferences in buying apartments, which we also reported today.

So what are young people spending their money on? In the report we can find information that the young generation most willingly invests in travel, trips to concerts and events, and they want to change the world as activists. According to Kantar’s study “Global Download on Gen Z” from 2021, three out of four respondents from Generation Z declare that they are looking for “new experiences and sensations” instead of material goods. From the economic point of view, the situation is not improved by the prices of fuel, cars (including used ones), spare parts, or the prices of driving courses or exams, which are increasing year by year.

Young people like to drive… but in the passenger seat

Szyłeko drew attention to one more interesting relationship:

An interesting fact for some may be the fact that many “Zes” simply … like to travel as passengers. Thanks to such joint trips, the driver does not get bored and the passenger can rest. The network even coined a special term – “passenger princess”. Materials with this tag on TikTok have so far been viewed as many as 845 million times, and Instagram rolls on this subject break popularity records.

In addition, the economic aspect plays a very important role in choosing public means of transport. Mediahub and the Pollster Research Institute calculated that 63 percent of Generation Z representatives consider environmental protection to be an important topic. The Zs are looking for better alternatives because they do not believe that everyone must have their own car, and if they already have one, it is worth using it reasonably and in a sustainable way.

Source: BlaBlaCar report “Zero Empty Seats”

Featured Art: Unsplash @xokvictor