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MORE than 20 per cent of Chinese-born and 16 per cent of Indian-born members of Generation Z who drive a car are outperforming the nation’s averages of intending car ownership.

Roy Morgan Research’s latest survey finds that Chinese- and Indian-born members of Gen Z – born in the mid-1990s to mid-2000s – plan to purchase a new car in the next four years compared to only 8.5 per cent of Gen Z as a whole.

The numbers for Millennials (born 1981-1996) are also skewed higher for Asian-born members of that generation, although Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine said “not to the same degree”.

“The Australian automotive market has undergone a profound shift in recent years with the closure of large-scale local automotive manufacturing and this means precisely identifying and targeting your potential consumers is more important than ever to improve new-car sales,” she said.

“Car companies looking for an edge on their competitors would be well-advised to closely examine the fast growing market of young Asian-born Australians.”

Ms Levine said Millennials are moving into their prime purchasing years.

“Millennials as a generation in Australia are profoundly impacted by immigration like no other generation before,” she said.

“The take-out from the impact of this immigration is that while about 11 per cent of Australians of all ages are now born in Asian countries, this rises to 21 per cent of Millennials and close to one-in-three (31 per cent) of Millennials living in Australia’s two largest cities of Sydney and Melbourne.”

Roy Morgan’s survey found that the most prominent originating countries for Asian-born Millennials are the two most obvious – China and India – and that these communities are “becoming more and more important for advertisers and brands to understand and target with tailored advertising – particularly for industries undergoing significant competitive pressures such as Australia’s automotive industry.”

Ms Levine said: “Extensive qualitative and quantitative Roy Morgan surveys of automotive buying habits shows that Asian-born Millennials, and Asian-born members of the younger Gen Z are much more likely to want to buy a new car than the average Australian in these two key generations.

“Asian-born Australians are looking to buy cars such as Toyotas, Volkswagens, Audis, BMWs and Hyundais – all popular choices for young Asian Australians – although priorities differ depending upon whether we look at Chinese-born, Indian-born or Asian-born in general which brings in immigrants from countries such as Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and elsewhere.”

The research found that Asian-born Millennials may be more likely to plan to buy a new car in the next four years, but they are also far more likely to be undecided as to what type of vehicle they want to buy, creating a large opportunity for automotive brands to target.

Only 14.5 per cent of all new-car intenders and 16.2 per cent of all Millennials are undecided on what type of new vehicle they plan to buy.

“However this rises to 26.4 per cent of all Asian-born Millennials and nearly half (45.5 per cent) of Chinese-born Millennials can’t say what type of new vehicle they plan to buy,” the research said.

“Asian-born Millennials also stand out from other Millennials by planning to buy passenger vehicles in preference to buying SUVs or light-commercial vehicles.

“Among those intending to buy a new car in the next four years, nearly half of Millennials (48.7 per cent) plan to buy either an SUV (40.6 per cent) or a light-commercial vehicle (8.1 per cent) compared to just over a third of Asian-born Millennials (35.3 per cent) and only a quarter of Chinese-born Millennials (25.6 per cent).”

It said that Asian-born Millennials – particularly Chinese-born Millennials – favour different manufacturers and brands than the average Australian Millennial.

Australians born in Asian countries comprise 11 per cent of the Australian population, up significantly from around four per cent 20 years ago, and are now a larger share of the population than Australians born in the UK/Ireland (six per cent) and the rest of Europe (three per cent). Both UK, Ireland and European-born citizens are down significantly as proportions of the population over the past 20 years.

“The driving force behind the increase in the Asian-born population in Australia is migration to Australia of particularly younger Asians such as Millennials,” Roy Morgan’s report said.

“Now one-in-five Millennials in Australia were born in Asia, more than double the comparable figure from 10 years ago of nine per cent.

“In particular Asian-born Millennials, and their younger cohorts, Asian-born Gen Z Australians, are clustered heavily in Australia’s largest cities of Sydney and Melbourne – home to around 40 per cent of Australia’s overall population.

“Close to one-in-three (31 per cent) Millennials in Sydney and Melbourne were born in Asia and almost one-in-four (23 per cent) of Gen Zs in Australia’s two biggest cities were born in Asia.

“Analysing both cities on a more granular level shows significant clustering of Asian born Millennials in certain suburbs.”

By Neil Dowling

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