Get off my lawn!
I've seen this making the rounds:
millennials-dont-care-about-owning-cars-and-car-makers-cant-figure-out-why
I think the article is a lot of wishful thinking. There are some fair points to be sure but a few things stand out for me that are not mentioned in the article.
Millennials don't have any money. Household-Incomes-by-Age-Brackets
While it does look dire, if you compare that to the cost of a new car, you can see that the barrier to entry is that much higher as a percentage of income.
Disturbing as well is why would you invest so much money into a disposable item? That is, why would I put up $22k (close to yearly income) for a base model car that is an actual depreciating liability, but taxed as an asset?
There is also a declining amount of "fun" you can have informally with a car. We do have formal and safe events and that is a good thing, but speeders are routinely caught, doing doughnuts in your cul-de-sac or in the mall parking lot is no longer a "boys will be boys" (or girls) affair. You're going to jail.
Nobody works on cars. Well, we work on cars but the barrier to understanding them is low and we grew up in a culture where you changed your own oil and spark plugs and checked fluids before long trips (and had to sometimes). Now cars are very reliable and the only time you have to interact with your car at this intimate level is when something horrible happens. Overheat your car? The head warps and your car is trashed. Never change your oil? Big deal. The damn thing will last 150K easy and you can unload it on some other poor sot. Even your tires are designed to last 60,000+ miles. You don't get a relationship with a mechanic if you never see one save to give your car last rites.
For heaven's sake, you're not even allowed to look under your hood anymore. Open the hood? Well, there's another hood underneath your hood with a few labels that while they don't say "no user serviceable parts inside" they are also not inviting.