Millennials Prefer Owning/Leasing a Car Over Ride-Hailing Services

We also asked millennials about the fairly recent phenomenon of ride-hailing services (e.g., Uber, Lyft, Didi). Questions included whether these services were available in their neighborhood, whether they would cost the same as owning/leasing a car with insurance, and whether they would prefer owning/leasing a car or using a ride-hailing service. Overwhelmingly, 75% of millennials chose owning/leasing a car to ride-hailing. The results varied slightly by region, with Latin America at the low end with 66% and the U.S./Canada at the high end at 86%.

Preference in Car Ownership/Lease Vs. Ride-Hailing Services, If the Cost was Equal

By country, outliers include Brazil at 55% choosing car ownership/leasing, China (other than Hong Kong) at 58%, Italy at 62% and Singapore at 56%. These results, taken together, indicate that when cost is not a factor, millennials prefer to have their own car over using a ride-hailing service. 

Brazil, Singapore and China Show the Most Interest in Ride-Hailing Vs. Owning/Leasing a Car Over Other Countries

This preference might have something to do with the high costs of reliance on ride-hailing²⁴ compared to car ownership. Given this significant difference in cost and millennials’ preference of car ownership when cost is not a factor, it does not appear that ride-hailing will likely be a significant threat to car ownership/leasing for the millennial generation.


Source
²⁴ Stefan Knupfer, Vadim Pokotilo, and Jonathan Woetzel, “Elements of success: Urban transportation systems of 24 global cities,” McKinsey & Company, accessed September 25, 2019, https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/sustainability/our-insights/elements-of-success-urban-transportation-systems-of-24-global-cities.