10 used models leaning most heavily on Gen Y
Millennials accounted for just under 17 percent of the used-car market in the first half of the year, according to Edmunds.com analysis of Polk registration data.
But there are some pre-owned models in which millennials represent a larger slice of the pie. And several of those, interestingly enough, are actually discontinued models.
Edmunds shared these findings in an analysis Wednesday after combing through Polk’s used-car registration data from January through June.
What Edmunds found is that the Dodge Magnum, which is no longer in production, was the used model with the highest rate of millennial buyers, with 27.6 percent of its used sales going to Gen Y.
Not far behind was another discontinued vehicle from the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: the Chrysler Pacifica, in second place at 27.3 percent.
And when looking at the full top 10 list of pre-owned models based on percentage of sales to millennials, six are discontinued vehicles, Edmunds said.
“Millennials are more practical used-car shoppers than we might otherwise credit them,” Edmunds.com analyst Jeremy Acevedo said. “They may not go into the shopping process targeting these lesser-known vehicles, but when they see how their price tags stack up against other, better-known vehicles, they suddenly become a lot more attractive.
“When it comes to used cars, value and utility appear to trump just about anything else for many millennial buyers.”
The complete Top 10, again based on the share of their pre-owned sales to millennials is as follows. The list is sourced from an Edmunds analysis of Polk registration data covering January to June of this year. Discontinued models are in bold.
1. Dodge Magnum 27.6%
2. Chrysler Pacifica 27.3%
3. Subaru WRX 26.4%
4. Chevrolet Trailblazer 25.9%
5. Volkswagen R32 25.7%
6. Pontiac Aztek 25.5%
7. Nissan GT-R 25.4%
8. Saturn Outlook 25.3%
9. Dodge Durango 24.8%
10. Lexus IS-F 24.7%
Edmunds evaluation of vehicles includes modesl 10 years and younger.