2026美国消费者汽车研究、购买与保养行为研究报告 (英文版)

xResearch, Buy,and Maintain Cars About this report Data Source:All data in this report comes fromMorning Consult Intelligence. Sample: •The behavioral data from section 1 is based on surveys conducted from 05/07/25through 03/02/26 among a national sample of 14,680 respondents. Sample sizesfor generational cuts range from 1,451 to 4,551.•The brand data from section 2 comes from surveys conducted from 1/1/25 through12/31/25. Brand trust data covers 59 automotive and auto-adjacent brands trackedin this report, with brand-level sample sizes varying by brand and audiencesegment. All brands included meet a minimum threshold of 500 respondentswithin each reported audience segment. Brand Trust:Trust scores reflect Morning Consult's net trust measure, calculated asthe share of respondents who say they trust a brand minus the share who say theydistrust it. A positive score indicates more trust than distrust among the measuredpopulation; a negative score indicates the reverse. Scores can be compared directlyacross brands and audience segments. Audience Segments:Generational cohorts are defined as follows: Generation Z(born 1997–2012), Millennials (born 1981–1996), Generation X (born 1965–1980), andBoomers (born 1946–1964). High Income refers to consumers with an income of$200k or more. Key Takeaways 1.Car buying remains a deeply in-person experience—but younger generations aremoving it online.Across nearly every stage of the car-buying journey, in-personactivity dominates. Eight in ten Americans (83%) purchased their most recent car inperson, and nearly three-quarters (73%) preferred to experience how a car drives inperson rather than virtually. However, Gen Z and millennials are more likely thanboomers to complete each stage—from financing to purchasing—online, pointing toan accelerating shift in the channel mix. 2.Most Americans decide to buy a car faster than you'd expect—but Gen Z takes itstime.Roughly 35% of Americans decided within a week of choosing to buy a car, andboomers move even faster (50% in under a week). Gen Z bucks this trend: only 16%decided in under a week, and they're far more likely to research for months. Forbrands, this creates two distinct audiences requiring different engagement strategiesalong the purchase funnel. 3.Self-driving comfort is low—and has barely budged.Roughly half of Americans saythey are not at all comfortable riding in a self-driving car, a figure that has remainedremarkably stable over the past year of Morning Consult tracking (May 2025–February 2026). Comfort is strongly tied to age: more than two-thirds of boomers(68%) express zero comfort, compared to just 29% of Gen Z—highlighting thegenerational chasm automakers and regulators will need to bridge. 4.Regardless of demographic cut, consumers hold a few brands in high trust. Chevrolet is the most trusted car brand across all respondents, Gen Z, millennials, andGen X—but drops to #3 with boomers (behind Toyota and Subaru) and all the way to#6 with high-income consumers (where Toyota and BMW lead). All brands struggle towin trust amongst GenZers. Explore Brand Metrics and AudienceBehaviors in the Auto Industry Data featured in this report comes fromMorning Consult Intelligence, the Always OnConsumer Signal. The platform helps you understand your audience, brand, competitors andmarket in a way traditional research companies can’t. Car PurchasingBehaviors and Drivers Americans Research Cars Online, But Rely on In-Person Experience to Make Up Their Minds When it comes to the discovery stages of the car-buying process, online and in-person channels each play a distinct role. Researching a car is the activity most likelyto take place online: 46% of Americans say they conducted their research digitally,compared to 36% who did so in person. This makes research the only stage in thepurchasing journey where online activity approaches parity with in-person activity. Generational patterns are consistent across all discovery activities: Gen Z andmillennials are meaningfully more likely to conduct each of these stages onlinecompared to boomers. Among Gen Z, 53% researched cars online and 22% evenassessed how a car drives digitally—versus just 41% and 7% of boomers,respectively. Younger Generations Are More Likelyto Research and Shop Online % who completed each stage online, by generation When It's Time to Sign, Americans Still Do Itin Person The transactional stages of car buying—financing and purchasing—show an evenstronger preference for in-person interaction than the discovery stages. Roughly 83%of Americans completed the actual purchase of their most recent car in person, and56% financed in person. Only 9% purchased online and 15% financed online, makingthese the least digitized parts of the entire car-buying journey. Generational shifts are visible here too, though the magnitude of the online shift ismore modest than in research and discovery. Among Gen Z, 14% purchased their caronline—triple the rate of boomer