13 Car Brands Millennials Absolutely Love

If you were born between 1981 and 1996, you’re officially a millennial with specific tastes in style, food, relationships, destinations, and, ahem, automobiles. Hurray. You’re also known as Generation Y (Gen Y), and you’re supposed to be techy, intellectual, addicted to TikTok, struggling with debt, and prefer the Vanlife over buying a darn farm. Does this describe you? No? You’re still a millennial, dang it.

Organizations like YouGov care about what’s popular with you guys, for example — your favorite car brands. There are hundreds of car brands in the world, from global colossuses like Toyota and Ford to lesser-known, smaller big shots like Koenigsegg and Pagani. Perhaps, this article will expose just how odd you are because you don’t prefer any brand on this list.

Maybe the Gen Xs and Zs can finally penetrate our thick skulls and understand the trends and factors that influence our choice in cars — to understand why Walter Junior thought the PT Cruiser was “okay.” With the help of YouGov’s survey data, we’ve narrowed millennials’ top 13 favorites from the over 300 active car brands globally.

Honda

• Percentage: 78%
• Most Popular Model: Honda Accord

Factoids:

Know what we mean by “percentage” up there? It’s the proportion of millennials that prefer the Honda brand. With Honda getting 78% of that love, it represents the largest fraction of Gen Y drivers and would-be drivers who’d rather go with the Honda.

After a little more research, we found that the Accord (why aren’t we surprised) is arguably the most popular Honda model among millennials, with approximately 3.13% of the Trophy Generation driving it.

That’s not surprising. The Accord represents efficiency, affordability, and practicality. If Honda keeps the recipe fresh with every generation, the nameplate should continue to appeal to young adults of every dispensation, from Gen Z onwards.

Subaru

• Percentage: 70%
• Most Popular Model: Subaru Outback

Factoids:

Subaru is millennials’ second most favorite car brand, with the Outback crossover as the number one choice. If we didn’t know any better, we would’ve thought the BRAT (Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter) with its rear-facing jump seats in the cargo bed was their favorite. Just kidding.

This Japanese brand has plenty of innovative features that appeal to Gen Y drivers, including the renowned symmetrical all-wheel drive (AWD) systems offered as a standard feature on most Subaru models since the 1970s.

Millennials should also be proud of the first Japanese brand to win an international rally when the Subaru Leone 1400G won the Southern Cross Rally in Australia in 1972. The Leone was also the world’s first turbocharged car, setting the stage for models like the WRX and STI.

Porsche

• Percentage: 70%
• Most Popular Model: Porsche 911

Factoids:

According to YouGov’s survey, 9% of millennials actually disliked Porsche. Whatever they’re thinking, right? Well, Porsche holds plenty of appeal to the rest of us, as demonstrated by the substantial 70% that love the brand. It’s hard not to fall in love with a specimen of engineering excellence like Porsche automobiles.

Many would be surprised to learn that Ferdinand Porsche developed the world’s first hybrid electric vehicle (Lohner-Porsche Mixte) in 1901. The 911 is unsurprisingly the favorite Porsche, as noted on Suviews.com. They were going to call it the 901, but Peugeot wouldn’t let that happen because it had exclusive rights to car names with a central ‘0.’ Now you know.

Chevrolet

• Percentage: 69%
• Most Popular Model: Chevrolet Trax

Factoids:

You’d be surprised to learn that the Trax, not the Camaro or Corvette, is the favorite Chevy among Gen Y drivers. It makes sense, considering the Trax’s entry-level pricing and a satisfying list of tech features, including Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and WiFi hotspots across most of its range.

It’s just as well that millennials are into Chevrolet because this is a brand co-founded by a race car driver (Louis Chevrolet), and history must get handed down and preserved. Well, William Durant co-founded Chevy with Louis as a strategy to regain control of GM after his ouster from the company.

Toyota

• Percentage: 68%
• Most Popular Model: Toyota RAV4

Factoids:

The fact the Corolla even managed to command the attention of 2.8% of millennials reinforces just how strongly this car appeals to drivers across the board. The Corolla is the world’s bestselling car, with over 75 million units sold since inception.

However, the RAV4 takes the largest share of millennials who drive a Toyota. A healthy 68% of millennials prefer this Japanese brand. It’s easy to see why the RAV4 SUV does it for millennials. It’s practical, reliable, highly versatile, techy, and stylish.

Ford

• Percentage: 68%
• Most Popular Model: Ford Maverick

Factoids:

We don’t have data for the long term, but we found that the 2022 Ford Maverick was a massive hit with Gen Y drivers. According to Ford, more than one-quarter of people who bought the Maverick truck were 18 to 35 years old, translating to more than double the industry average for that age group.

Now, let’s pretend to know what’s going on here because we honestly weren’t expecting a truck as the favorite. The Maverick is relatively affordable and offers a range of punchy, efficient powertrains.

It’s also an attractive platform for modding, as demonstrated in the numerous “Hack Your Maverick” DIY videos on the web. As icing on the cake, the 2022 Ford Maverick was TikTok’s most popular vehicle, with approximately 11 billion views. Ford has a history so rich that any generation will spend a lifetime exploring the width and breadth of it.

Lexus

• Percentage: 67%
• Most Popular Model: Lexus UX

Factoids:

The first Lexus (LS 400) was developed in secret. Codenamed Flagship One, the project kept over 1,400 engineers, 2,300 technicians, and 220 support workers busy. It is on record that the team completed 450 Flagship One prototypes before getting greenlit.

Lexus is a rite of passage for successful young adults in certain West African countries, particularly the RX and ES models. We expect the UX’s popularity to soar among millennials, as demonstrated by the 2020 and 2021 models. It was born in 2018 as Lexus’ smallest SUV targeted at urban dwellers.

It features a wealth of cutting-edge safety features, such as radar-guided cruise control, a pre-collision system, and lane-keep assist. Gen Y might be up to something here because the UX earned a 5-star safety rating from the Euro NCAP.

Volkswagen

• Percentage: 67%
• Most Popular Model: Volkswagen Tiguan, Passat, & Jetta

Factoids:

It seems sixty-seven percent of millennials agree that Volkswagen is the People’s Car. Let’s hope they don’t decide to ‘cancel’ it tomorrow because VW has devoted considerable efforts to separating itself from its connection to Nazi Germany.

The German Labor Front founded it in 1973 with the noble goal of building affordable cars for everyone, ergo, the choice of its name and the development of the iconic Beetle. Today, the Tiguan compact SUV, Passat midsize sedan, and Jetta are three VW models in the best position to attract millennials with their long-standing budget-friendly appeal.

BMW

• Percentage: 66%
• Most Popular Model: BMW 330i

Factoids:

BMW is a well-rounded German brand with plenty to offer people from all age demographics and walks of life. There’s the Drive Experience Program designed to help enthusiasts realize their track skill goals by teaching them performance driving techniques. We can’t think of any other automaker that offers a similar program.

Gen Ys will have their thumbs up to Bimmer’s Strategy NUMBER ONE > NEXT, focusing on electric mobility, digitalization, and sustainability.

And there’s the BMW Art Cars offering creatives a platform to connect with legendary artists like Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, and Roy Lichtenstein. You’d expect the MINI models to be millennials’ faves, but the BMW 330i is increasingly popular with millennials.

Lamborghini

• Percentage: 66%
• Most Popular Model: Lamborghini Huracan

Factoids:

Lamborghini, huh? Apparently, a higher percentage of millennials prefer the Raging Bull over Land Rover, Volvo, Lincoln, and Ferrari. It doesn’t have to be the most practical choice, but everyone, young and old, is familiar with the undeniable allure of driving, let alone owning a Lambo.

Remember what was said about Lexus representing a rite of admission for successful youths in certain regions; Lamborghini represents the ultimate mark of success in the West. We don’t have data to support this, but the Huracan is most likely the average millennial’s first port of call when ready to acquire a Lambo. It’s the most popular and bestselling Lamborghini in history.

Land Rover

• Percentage: 65%
• Most Popular Model: Land Rover Range Rover

Factoids:

The Land Rover brand has come an impressively long way for an automobile conceived as a farm help. Taking more than a leaf from America’s Willys Jeep, the SUV would demonstrate remarkable ruggedness and off-road capability, two enduring qualities responsible for its global success and longevity.

It was born officially at the star-studded Amsterdam Motor Show on April 30, 1948. Since then, the Land Rover’s appeal has passed down from generation to generation, from the Gen X to the Gen Y. Sixty-five percent of millennials love the brand, most of which (we’re sure) will choose the Range Rover over the other models.

Volvo

• Percentage: 64%
• Most Popular Model: Volvo S90

Factoids:

Volvo is a blue-blooded Global brand with manufacturing plants in Sweden, Belgium, China, and the United States. Even after being acquired by the Chinese multinational Geely Holding Group in 2010, Volvo still has its headquarters in Sweden. Volvo is an innovative brand that deserves a higher position on this ranking.

It was so confident in the safety of its cars that it launched the Vision 2020 initiative in 2016 aimed at ensuring no one is killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo car by the year 2020. Volvo’s engineer Nils Bohlin invented the three-point safety belt in 1959.

Instead of patenting the invention, Volvo allowed other automakers to copy it for public safety’s sake. Volvo also introduced the world’s first rear-facing child safety seat in 1964. It has had a dedicated crash test laboratory since 1970. It was also the first to introduce the Side-Impact Protection System (SIPS) in 1991 and the Pedestrian Detection System in 2010.

Lincoln

• Percentage: 64%
• Most Popular Model: Lincoln Navigator

Factoids:

The Lincoln automotive brand was actually named after Abraham Lincoln. The 16^th President of the United States was founder Henry Leland’s hero. With the large Lincoln Navigator as the most popular Lincoln model, the brand’s presence on this list is an eye-opener.

Millennials are not all about ‘compact” and “efficient.” They also love sprawling comfort and luxury, especially with the new Lincoln’s attractive blend of advanced technology, spacious interior, and smooth ride.