The automotive buyer intelligence firm Autolist.com released a study showing that a large number of millennials (Gen Y) and centennials (Gen Z) are interested in buying an autonomous vehicle today.
The Autolist.com analysis, based on a survey of 8,576 vehicle owners, found that millennials and centennials are most desirous of autonomous vehicles, with 48.7 percent and 44.5 percent (respectively) indicating a desire to buy an autonomous vehicle today.
Additionally, centennial generation men indicated the most desire (59.6 percent), followed by millennial generation men (53.2 percent). By contrast, traditionalist generation (ages 70+) women indicated the least desire (13.3 percent).
In terms of trusting autonomous technology, around a quarter of centennials (20.9 percent) and millennials (18.9 percent) trust complete autonomy technology today (level 5). However, that number increases to around 40 percent when respondents were asked to forecast whether they will trust it 10 years from now. Additionally, all generations saw between a 18-23 percentage point increase in trust forecasting 10 years out.
Autolist also looked at trust in level 2, semi-autonomous technology today and found patterns in trust based on the make of the vehicle one drives. To that end, male and female drivers of Audi vehicles were among the most trusting of level 2 autonomous technology or above, at 75 percent and 74.3 percent respectively. Overall, the most trusting group was male drivers of Acuras at 78.7 percent.
