Do Your Car Preferences Match Your Generation’s Favorite Brands?

Do different generations favor various car brands? There’s strong evidence to show that some generations prefer certain car brands over others.

Currently, there are four generations of car buyers. These generations are Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z. The Gen Z crowd is the youngest and these car buyers are beginning to change things up, but you might find that every generation picks similar brands, which shows that there isn’t that much of a difference between Gen Z car buyers and their great-grandparents in the Baby Boomer generation.

Here’s which car brands are preferred by each generation.

What car brands do Baby Boomers prefer?

The top car brand chosen by Boomers is Ford. This shouldn’t come as any surprise, especially when you consider how popular the Ford F-150 is and has been for the past 40+ years. You might think that a generation that has reached retirement age might look to brands with more comfort and quality features, but the closest you’ll find to this is Mercedes-Benz, which slots in the tenth position for Boomers.

The top ten car brands and the percentage of Baby Boomers choosing them are:

• Ford – 13%
• Toyota – 12%
• Chevrolet – 12%
• Nissan – 10%
• Honda – 8%
• Hyundai – 6%
• Kia – 6%
• Dodge – 4%
• Jeep- 4%
• Mercedes-Benz – 2%

What car brands does Generation X prefer?

The children of the Baby Boomers switched things up a bit, but not as much as you might think. When it comes to the favorite car brands for each generation, Gen X shoppers prefer Chevrolet. This isn’t too big of a shakeup in the market, but what seems odd is the GMC brand comes in the 10th spot. This is strange because the two brands are joined at the hip with powertrains that are the same across nearly all models.

The top ten car brands and the percentage of Gen X shoppers choosing them are:

• Chevrolet – 13%
• Ford – 12%
• Toyota – 10%
• Nissan – 9%
• Honda – 8%
• Hyundai – 6%
• Kia – 5%
• Dodge – 5%
• Jeep – 4%
• GMC – 3%

What car brands do Millennials prefer?

For the most part, Millennials choose the same vehicles by nearly the same percentages as Gen Xers. This means Chevrolet is at the top, followed by Ford and Toyota. It’s after the third position that we see changes in the order of things for Millennials.

The top ten car brands and the percentage of Millennials choosing them are:

• Chevrolet – 13%
• Ford – 11%
• Toyota – 10%
• Honda – 9%
• Nissan – 9%
• Hyundai – 6%
• Dodge – 6%
• Kia – 6%
• Jeep – 4%
• GMC – 2%

What car brands does Generation Z prefer?

The youngest group of drivers on the road are from Generation Z. The favorite car brands of this generation are basically the same as the three older generations but with at least one significant change. Honda sits at the top for Gen Z shoppers, which makes them the first generation to choose a Japanese brand more often than an American name.

The top ten car brands and the percentage of Gen Z shoppers choosing them are:

• Honda – 12%
• Chevrolet – 11%
• Ford – 11%
• Toyota – 11%
• Nissan – 9%
• Hyundai – 8%
• Kia – 6%
• Dodge – 5%
• Jeep – 3%
• Volkswagen – 2%

Why do Boomers have a luxury brand in the mix?

As the oldest generation of car buyers, it’s not surprising that one of the car brands that Baby Boomers choose is Mercedes-Benz. It might be a little more surprising that Boomers are the only generation to have a luxury name among the top ten brands. Considering this generation is filled with retirees and holds more than half the country’s wealth, it makes perfect sense that a strong percentage of Boomers would own luxury vehicles.

Is there any consistency?

You might have noticed that one brand was consistently the sixth most popular choice among all generations. That brand is Hyundai. In fact, Hyundai has the same percentage of each generation except for the Gen Z shoppers. This consistency puts Hyundai in the middle of the pack for all four generations.

Another consistency is the position of Ford, Chevrolet, and Toyota, which are among the top three car brands for every generation except Gen Z shoppers. Still, when it comes to the youngest generation, these three brands follow Honda and make up the next three positions.

Are these your favorite brands?

Which generation do you belong to? Do these brands make sense to you as far as the order goes, or would you choose some brands further up or further down your generation’s list?