As I mentioned before, one of my passions is cars. However, it is said that recent young people haven't showed very interest in cars. Now is an aging society with a declining birthrate, so this tendency might be normal in a way. I came across an interesting research regarding mobility needs and would like to share it here.
This survey was conducted among young generation in Germany, China, France, America and Japan. The result showed that many young people realized cars are a must-have item. In the case of Germany, young people of 54% in between 18 and 34 years old treat cars as a symbol of their status and this rate is as twice as the answers' in over 45 years old. 67% of them in urban recognizes cars as a symbol of their fame, on the other hand, the rate in small town and countryside just reached about 49%.
There are some future new technologies that they expect. One is self-driving system. Because they think future cars should not only be safe transportation but also be space that we can relax and work. Another is artificial intelligence[AI] assistant system for cars. The answers of 74% in between 18 and 34 years old expect that AI assistant will provide them with service which helps them find tourist attraction, restaurants, gas and charging stations, and which checks the status of parking lot and introduces message from others. AI trip guidance is welcome in most countries.
The article said that cars might be considered one of high technology electrical appliances for young people in the future. Personally, I really hope that the cost of eco-friendly cars needs to go down in the future because it's too high and hard to buy for many people as of now.