Move Over Millennials, 16-24 Year Olds Love Cars And Spend Billions Modifying Them

Millennials are often accused of being lazy and hating cars (they aren’t and they don’t), but what about the next-generation?

A new study from SEMA (PDF) suggests they’re huge car fans and nearly a third of 16-24 year olds who own a vehicle accessorize them in some fashion. While it’s relatively easy to dismiss this figure, the study says young accessorizers spent $7.2 (£5.5 / €6.2) billion on aftermarket upgrades and accessories last year alone. That’s a significant amount of money and 58% of accessorizers in this age group would rather give up their phone than their car for a week.

While the number of young adults who have a drivers license has dropped from 77% in 1998 to an average of 68% nowadays, young drivers are still among the most likely to modify or accessorize their vehicle. Unsurprisingly, the accessorization rate climbs as they grow older and have more money to spend on parts and accessories. The peak age for this appears 23 years old as 32% of people in this age group accessorize their vehicle out of the 82% that have a driver’s license.

Most accessorizers spent between $101 (£77 / €88) and $500 (£385 / €435) on customizing their vehicle over the past year. 68% of them are men, while the remaining 32% were women.

When it comes to accessorizing, most 16 to 24 year olds focus on new wheels and tires. This was followed by exterior body modifications and chemical upgrades (additives, special oil etc). Rounding out the top five are interior upgrades and lighting changes.

Among the most popular individual upgrades are tinted windows, floor mats and new all-season tires. Other popular upgrades include new brake pads, performance batteries and cold air intakes.

The vehicles most likely be modified by youths are sports cars, small cars and pickups. A vast majority of people who make changes to their vehicle say it is because they think it makes the vehicle look better. They also said that they believe other people will think it is cool then they see it. However, 22% admitted others probably don’t care about their upgrades.

The internet obviously plays a big role in influencing young people about upgrades and nearly 32% of them said they found inspiration online. Another 17% found it from social media.

Old schools forms of inspiration are still present, but only 15% of people found inspiration from car shows and just 10% found it from magazines. One of the more interesting figures from the study reveals just 10% of young accessorizers find inspiration from movies, so it appears the Fast and the Furious effect could be losing steam.

Another surprising find is who the top influencers are.  While Elon Musk was mentioned, he didn’t even manage to break into the top five.  Instead, most people cited Danica Patrick.  She was followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon and Jay Leno.