SANTA MONICA, Calif. -

Not only are millennials becoming a bigger chunk of today’s car shoppers, they are squashing some stereotypes in the process.

Edmunds’ newly released Car Shopping and Gender Report reveals that the idea of the man as the confident decision maker and the woman as the clueless sidekick doesn’t hold so much weight these days.

Of the 3,000 men and women age 18-65 commissioned by Edmunds and surveyed by the research firm Hypothesis, 70 percent said they feel self-assured during the car buying and negotiating process.

However, Edmunds found that millennial men and women share more similar feelings about car shopping than Gen X-ers and baby boomers. For example, when asked if they believe if women are equal or better than men at car shopping, 64 percent of millennial women and 54 percent of millennial men agreed. When baby boomers were asked the same question, 67 percent of women agreed while only 48 percent of men did, resulting in an opinion gap nearly twice as large.

“The world where millennials grew up was very different than that of older generations. For many, both parents worked and financial decisions were made equally, which is reflected in their different attitudes about gender roles in car shopping,” said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of industry analytics at Edmunds.

“Millennials are poised to become the predominate consumption group in the automotive industry, making it key that automakers, dealers and marketers understand how their perceptions are changing the way consumers approach car buying.”

The survey revealed some notable differences between millennials and older generations, including:

—Millennial men are more likely than older men to believe that women are equally or more logical than men during the car buying process.

—Millennial men are more confident in women than in men from older generations.

—Millennial women and men feel nearly equal levels of confidence during the shopping process as compared to older generations.

Other findings:

—80 percent of all female respondents feel assured that they made the right purchase versus 75 percent of men.

— 30 percent of all female respondents stated that they didn’t know where to start the car shopping process, compared to 18 percent of men.

—Additionally, 67 percent of all female respondents wish there was a faster, more efficient way to shop for a car, compared to 57 percent of all men.

 “Gender inequality has been in our society for a very long time,” said Lacey Plache, chief economist at Edmunds. “Shifting gender roles have been a main catalyst for lowering gender inequality, but this change is still in motion and the differences aren’t fully dissolved yet. As this continues to decrease on a societal level we’ll see its impact manifested in major industries like automotive, but until gender inequality is completely gone, the old fashion notion that men control the garage will still linger.” 

 The survey also showed differences within each gender based on the needs of individual shoppers during various phases of their process. For example, a millennial female who is a luxury buyer has a different set of needs than a Gen X non-luxury buyer. This finding is supported by Edmunds’ site engagement data, which shows that men and women engage in similar shopping activities, such as new inventory search and dealership research.  

 “With the amount of consumer data available to us, we’re no longer forced to look at shoppers under the lens of these over-generalized stereotypes,” said Michelle Shotts, senior director of customer insights at Edmunds. “As more research continues to debunk these outdated assumptions, there is no excuse why automakers, dealers and marketers can’t begin to engage with car shoppers on a highly personalized, individual level.”   

Along with the stereotype that women aren’t as savvy as their male counterparts when it comes to car shopping is the unsavory one that females' supposed automotive naivete will be taken advantage of at the dealership.

Not in this day and age, said Ron Montoya, senior advice editor at Edmunds.

“I think any shopper, regardless of gender and age, who goes to a dealership unprepared, is at risk for paying more than they should,” he told Auto Remarketing. “It is hard to be ‘preyed upon’ when you have done your research on pricing and are equipped with the tools you need for negotiation.”