Tracking Trends in the Automotive and Mobility Industry

Measuring U.S. consumer trends in vehicle buying, electric and autonomous vehicles, public transportation, and more

By Morning Consult Industry Intelligence Team

We’ve paused our automotive and mobility tracker, but we hope to get back to monthly updates soon. Please check back.

The automotive industry is steering through the challenge of replenishing supply while also tailoring future transportation to consumer desires and climate change demands. And mobility providers — from tech companies to vehicle charging startups — are becoming increasingly relevant stakeholders amid advances toward automation and electrification. Automotive and mobility brand leaders must stay informed on consumers’ changing attitudes and behaviors around vehicle ownership, usage and purchase intent, as well as their sentiments about the future of electric and autonomous vehicles.

Morning Consult is tracking consumer behavior and sentiment around automotive industry trends through a monthly survey of U.S. adults. The methodology for the tracker is included at the bottom of this page.

Key Takeaways

Road-tripping has stayed mostly consistent since last summer. The share of those who said they used their household vehicle for a road trip in the last month was 37% in February, similar to the 39% who said the same in July and higher than the 32% who said they did last February.
Interest in purchasing an electric vehicle has ticked up slightly as manufacturers embark on a price war. The share of U.S. adults who said they’d be very interested in buying an EV in the next year grew from 9% in January to 12% in February, with the increase particularly pronounced for millennials (14% to 21%) and urbanites (14% to 20%).
Auto demand is still low, but purchases rose slightly in the last month. More consumers say they bought a new car in February, up a statistically significant 3 percentage points compared with the previous month.

Vehicle Availability

Share of respondents who said they had trouble finding the following items in the past month:

Vehicle Financing

Respondents were asked how they paid for their primary vehicle

Online Vehicle Buying Trends

Share of respondents who plan to purchase a vehicle in the next three years who said they are “very interested” in purchasing a vehicle entirely online

Impact of Gas Prices on Vehicle Buying

Share of respondents who plan to purchase a vehicle in the next three years who said the following would be a major factor in their purchase:

Vehicle Use: Commuting

Shares of commuters who used a household vehicle to commute to work in the last month

Vehicle Use: Road Trips

Shares who said they used a household vehicle for a road trip in the past month

Popularity of Electric Vehicles

Shares of respondents who said they are “very interested” in purchasing an electric vehicle in the next five years

Consumer Hesitation Toward EVs

Share of consumers not interested in EVs who said each of the following was a major reason why they wouldn’t purchase one:

Gaps in Expectations of Vehicle Servicing Prices

Consumers who had their vehicle serviced in the past month were asked how reality compared with their expectations of the price to service their vehicle

Gaps in Expectations of Vehicle Servicing Time

Consumers who had their vehicle serviced in the past month were asked how reality compared with their expectations of the time it took to service their vehicle

Autonomous Vehicle Interest

Shares of respondents who said they are “very interested” in purchasing an autonomous vehicle in the next 10 years

Trust in Autonomous Vehicles

Shares of respondents who said they trust autonomous vehicles “a lot”

Autonomous Vehicle Safety

Respondents were asked how safe they think autonomous vehicles are compared with traditional vehicles

This question was not asked in the January 2022 survey

Public Transportation Usage

Respondents were asked how their use of public transportation had changed in the last month

Public Transportation Mode Frequency

Shares of respondents who used the following forms of public transportation in the past month:

Source of This Data

Methodology

The Morning Consult Automotive and Mobility Monthly Trend Tracker relies on Morning Consult’s proprietary survey research capabilities. The interviews are conducted online, and the data are weighted to approximate a representative sample of U.S. adults based on gender, educational attainment, age, race and region. Results from the full survey have a monthly sample size of 2,200 U.S. adults and an unweighted margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points.

About Morning Consult

Morning Consult is a global decision intelligence company changing how modern leaders make smarter, faster, better decisions. The company pairs its proprietary high-frequency data with applied artificial intelligence to better inform decisions on what people think and how they will act. Learn more at morningconsult.com

Autonomous Vehicles Electric Vehicles Future of Auto Gas Prices Public Transportation Trend Tracker

Morning Consult Industry Intelligence Team

Email [email protected] to speak with a member of the Morning Consult team.