More young singles, couples and parents now car-free while older homes hold on to their wheels

August 28 2015
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source, Apr 2010–Mar 2011 n = 18,263 and Apr 2014–Mar 2015 n = 15,913 Australians 14+.
An estimated 574,000 Australian households (6.3%) now don’t have a car, up from 490,000 (5.8%) four years ago. However this small overall increase masks divergent trends at opposite ends of the household life cycle, new automotive research from Roy Morgan shows.
A higher proportion of younger and mid-life households, ranging from Young Singles, Young Couples and Young Parents through to Mid-Life Families, now don’t have car compared with 2011. But Older Households—which make up around a third of the population—have bucked the trend, and are now less likely to be car-free.
In the year to March 2011, only around 1 in 15 households comprising Young Couples (6.4%) didn’t have a car; four years later, and it’s over 1 in 9 (11.3%). During that time, the rate of car-free living among Young Couples surpassed that among Older Households, which declined from 7.5% to 6.4%.
17.0% of Young Singles now don’t have a car in the household (up from 15.6% in 2011). The most likely household type to have a car is Mid-Life Families—however the proportion without one has nearly doubled from 1.8% to 3.5% over the last four years.
% of each Household with no car:

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source, Apr 2010–Mar 2011 n = 18,263 and Apr 2014–Mar 2015 n = 15,913 Australians 14+.
Jordan Pakes, Industry Director – Automotive, Roy Morgan Research, says:
“The number of Aussie car free households is on the rise, with almost 1 in 5 young singles living in a house with no car at all.
“Overall, households without a car don’t appear to be rushing to the dealership anytime soon, with purchase intention levels well below average across the majority of the household life-cycle segments. Only car-free young couple households are as likely to intend to buy a new car as the industry average.
“Looking at young singles or parents living in a household with no car, used car purchase intention is at or above the norm – suggesting new car affordability may be a factor. Among mid-life families, mid-life households and older households with no car, car purchase intention is much lower when compared with car-owners in equivalent household.
“Of all the life cycle segments and combinations of current car ownership, those most likely to be in the market for a new car are mid-life households that already have three or more cars in the driveway—in fact, around 1 in 5 are intending to either expand the garage or replace an existing vehicle in the next four years.”
To learn more about Roy Morgan’s automotive research, contact:
Vaishali Nagaratnam
Telephone: +61 (3) 9224 5309