The End of Motoring - Guardian article

Interesting article in yesterday’s Guardian:

Young people today would rather have the latest smartphone than a flashy car. And the number of them who can drive is plummeting. Is Britain’s love-affair with the car really over?

Liz Parle can’t drive. “I did try to learn,” says the 24-year-old, Birmingham-born cafe owner, “but I failed my test a few times.” Then she moved to London, where running a car can be a nightmare. Instead she cycles everywhere. “It’s cheap, keeps me fit, and is of course better for the environment.”

Parle is by no means atypical. In Britain, the percentage of 17- to 20-year-olds with driving licences fell from 48% in the early 1990s to 35% last year. The number of miles travelled by all forms of domestic transport, per capita per year, has flatlined for years. Meanwhile, road traffic figures for cars and taxis, having risen more or less every year since 1949, have continued to fall since 2007. Motoring groups put it down to oil prices and the economy. Others offer a more fundamental explanation: the golden age of motoring is over…

Any thoughts on the article or implications for design professionals?

I’m 27 live in a small city, in the middle of town. I keep my car in a privet garage at my apartment. I almost never drive to work and only use it to go distances over 10 miles, otherwise I’ll ride a bike or walk. As a side note there is almost no public transit. I love cars and I am more incline to buy something sweet; 911, lotus, etc. do to how little I would use it.

As the article is I would say the economy and current fuel prices are effecting the need for a car. Other factors maybe how helpless a lot of younger people have become in not knowing how to fix or make things. Hence they would only want a newer car due to fear or repair bills or brake downs…

mbC: I think it’s the city effect. The UK is only getting more dense, especially London. I predict a much more utilitarian view of cars, kinda like the French have.

Here in Montreal, there is a heavy push for more public transport and bike lanes. Less so for roads and highways (although bridges that would stop falling would be welcome).

They ran a row of simular articles in German press within the
last 2 years until some journalists digged out, that those youngsters
just delay the expenses of getting a driving licence and a first car
until 22-24 (having the first job). With nearly 20% unemployment
amongst them (40% in italy, ireland, spain, etc.) the question of
affordability is the one to find a new answer to.

If you look at the figures available for europe critically you’ll see
the significance of the drop in miles driven annually. What is not
shown is the underlying decisions not comming out of a change of
mind but enforcement by high taxes vs. lower median income.

Qualitative interviews would prove people love cars nearly as much
as they did 20 years ago. They are just frickn fckn much poorer than
back then.
*
If you had made a survey about miles driven and driving licences
handed out within the eastern block 20 years ago you would have
had the same picture of people “loving” to ride their bikes to work.

All socialist crap.

mo-i

Hey Mo-i: Do you see a cultural difference in attitudes towards cars?

One of the biggest culture shocks for me moving to Montreal from Suburbia, USA was no one collects cars here. I don’t think it is just a question of money (although Canadians are taxed more than Americans, therefore, less dispossable income), but culture. People here seem to see a car as something much more utilitarian. I see a lot more unrepaired fender benders here than in the US for example. As long as it runs…

That is just progressive urban vs suburban. Same in SF… (though my babies are garaged :wink: )

Having moved to England from San Francisco 2 years ago, my experience might help shed some light on the differences in attiude toward owning cars in the US and UK. For example, the rich here live in the country, and the less rich live in the city. This is almost opposite of the USA, and could be a part of this whole discussion.

Another thing is that prices here are very high to drive comparatively… I hear people griping about $50 fill ups in the US. Our o4 Mini costs around £75 to fill up, $117 bucks. That’s high! Car prices seem lower, but people might get paid a little differently (less for good reasons) than the US so it’s still expensive, making gas even more expensive. Combine that with a harder driving exam, difficult parking, super narrow roads, and generally better public transit - it makes sense not to bother with a car.

All that said, people do still do the commute like you might have to driving from SF to SJ. People commute up to Gloucester from Bristol, or from Wales into Bristol, which is about the same distance. And sometimes even further. Also, it’s hard to visit the interesting places that are away from public transport, so most of my friends do have cars.

Also many have never learned to drive and don’t have licenses - I can count 3 good friends in their 30s. They’ve never needed to drive in their whole lives! (this totally blew me away)

The interesting thing though is that until someone is doing well and maybe over 30 or 35 and/or has a commute, people don’t seem to make such a big deal about having a status symbol car. Among my friends and coworkers, they get something practical, sometimes beaters (IMO). Another interesting thing is that sometimes when people have money, the get a nice older car and tool around on the weekends (or at least thats when you see them).

Myself, I don’t drive and cycle because I live about 3 miles from work, and am way better for it. Back in the US, I had lots of cars over the years (4X4s, Sedans, Convertibles, Roadsters, etc) and long ommutes in Raleigh, Houston, and SF. You need a car because you might live in a suburb outside of town, or the public transit is full of crazy people, orwant to go to Yosemite on the weekend. Now, with the exception of my wife’s commute, our car is parked most of the time unless we’re going out of town.

Sure there are exceptions, and I only know what I’ve seen in my small corner of the country, but can totally see where that article is coming from. If they made even better public transport, cars could completely turn into a leisure activity - blasting the country roads or just tooling around.

Hey Mo-i: Do you see a cultural difference in attitudes towards cars?

Of course there are a lot of cultural differences between the US and Europe.

Over here the car did never reach the status of the sole means of transport available.
There have always been valid alternatives in public transport and biking lanes.
Those “greener” alternatives have been strongly pushed since the 80ies and nowadays
have even be embraced by mainstream car companies, who see them selves as vendors
of mobility.

Many parts of the analysis about urban youth abandoning (using differently) the car were
part of the original SMART concept at Mercedes Benz. Just happens that the mass media
and many customers arrived 2o years late…

Another part of the analasys that Mercedes rightly took to heart was the part about old cars:

The interesting thing though is that until someone is doing well and maybe over 30 or 35 and/or has a commute, people don’t seem to make such a big deal about having a status symbol car. Among my friends and coworkers, they get something practical, sometimes beaters (IMO). Another interesting thing is that sometimes when people have money, the get a nice older car and tool around on the weekends (or at least thats when you see them).

Mercedes Benz started a dedicated program towards 20-40 somethings owning vintage Mercedes models
like 5 years ago. As a result they nearly “own” that market over here with more than 40% percent of regristered
historic models being from the Mercedes brand.

Other manufacturers with equally rich backround until now totally screwed that thing:
ALFA ROMEO I am talking to you!

Having lived in one of that strongly growing urban markets for some years (Cologne) I can see where this U.K
analysis is coming from. There truely are many mid 30ies men and women, who do not own a car and do not
see it as a loss. But the mindset of these urban crowd is in stark contrast to the surrounding masses of potential
customers of the same age, who would need and want a car, but can’t really afford it any more.

mo-i

P.S. : Downtown I get many thumbs ups riding our 30 year old Benz, Some less for the 22 year old Beemer and
none for the shiny new and expensive Audi…

What does Merc provide for the vintage owner?

I know that Mazda charges 20% less to service my 21 year old Miata. Also, the dealer gave me 10-15% off parts. Very friendly. They all told me that they want to see the car continue on the road. Ford does not share that view of my nine year old Focus:(

What does Merc provide for the vintage owner?

They take full responsibility for the continuing road worthyness of all the rolling
stock they ever produced! Most importantly through a full array of parts that you
can order at your main dealer for prices, that are mostly reasonable.
They also do have a fixed discount on their normal labor rates, but I can’t remember it,
as dedicated specialists still are the better deal.

Lastly they are not shy to advertise their commitment and go even as far as selling
refurbished older Benzes in special booths within their franchises.

You could even get one as a lease.

mo-i

Wow, that’s pretty nice. One problem that I have with the Miata is that I can’t get stock seat covers, or floor mats. WTF? I’m starting to have the same problem with the Focus…parts are going out of production and out of inventory.

Back when I had my P1800, Volvo had a program where they were putting a lot of their older obsolete parts back in production, and priced reasonably. It’s pretty shocking that you can’t get OEM floor mats for a Miata considering they made millions of them, but a discount on dealer service is a nice touch.

I can kind of see this utilitarian attitude about cars creeping in among younger people in the US, even though most of our cities are much harder to live in without a car. Car sharing services are starting to take off, relatively speaking of course. This is never going to be a factor in the suburbs and exurbs.

Just put Recaro Trophy’s in it. :smiley: Toyota would kill me on little crap for my supra. I think I ended up paying like $215 for a piece of door trim once.

Back when I had my P1800, Volvo had a program where they were putting a lot of their older obsolete parts back in production, and priced reasonably.

And back in 2005 when FORD still owned VOLVO they stopped that very program
instead of sensibly developing it into a viable business.

Part of my decision to sell the last 480 Turbo I had back then. Loved the car and
thought it could become a classic, but it won’t as relevant suspension and electric
parts are nowadays already unobtainable.

mo-i

That sucks. Maybe the Chinese will start it back up… ha.

I love a lot about Ford, but the people that they put in charge of LR, Jag, Aston and Volvo did a horrible job…fun thing to think of ranking the worst auto purchases/mergers:

  1. Ford & Volvo - How can you take a profitable company and turn into a big hole for money…ask Ford
  2. BMW & Rover - doomed to failure, I know
  3. VW & Suzuki - I just have a feeling about this one!

you guys might find this interesting

http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/ferrari-enzo-abandoned-in-dubai-2011-09-29#.ToTqcSY11g4.facebook

the end of motoring? haha

The ash tray was probably full … time to get a new one.