BOSTON, July 13, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zipcar, the world’s leading car-sharing network, today released the findings of its “American Summertime Driving” survey, which found that Americans across the country love family road trips, big cars, backwoods and the breeze in their hair.
- Good ol’ family time reigns supreme. Americans’ favorite summertime drive is still a family trip or vacation (33 percent), beating out a road trip with friends (19 percent) or riding solo during a morning cruise with coffee (18 percent) or a sunset cruise (13 percent).
- Big cars and backwoods are the best. In the summer, respondents prefer driving an SUV while cruising through the woods or mountains (41 percent) over taking a convertible to the beach or lake (32 percent), driving a luxury car around town (14 percent) or using a compact car to buzz in and out of a city (12 percent).
- Red or blue? The real debate is windows up or down. Windows up or windows down is a polarizing topic: over 25 percent of Americans leave their windows down all year long, while more than 20 percent leave their windows up all year. The rest are independent.
The survey of 1,000 respondents ages 18-65+ across the United States via Google Consumer Surveys examined attitudes and preferences on summertime driving, including favorite summertime drive, preferred car type and destination, windows up or down, and nostalgic summer moments in a vehicle. While many trends were consistent across demographics, there were some distinct driving discrepancies and regional crazy cruisers:
- Men prefer the simple pleasures. While the better-driver debate may be on-going, one thing is clear: men prefer simple driving pleasures when compared to women. When asked what image of a summer drive makes you feel most nostalgic, men most often chose cruising through backroads with no destination (35 percent), while women popularly chose cruising to the beach with a warm breeze (34 percent).
- But, baby, it’s cold outside! While it seems only natural to leave the windows down all year in sunny Cali, one in five in the Northeast leave their windows down all year long.
Whatever the preference — big cars or convertibles, beaches or backroads, family road trip or riding solo — Zipcar provides its members on-demand access to a variety of cars in hundreds of cities, as well as colleges and university campuses throughout North America and in Europe. Zipcars are available 24/7 for reservation via Zipcar’s mobile app, online, or over the phone. Prospective members can join the service and start driving instantly on Zipcar’s mobile app.
For more fun facts about the “American Summertime Drive” visit: www.zipcar.com/ziptopia.
About Zipcar
Zipcar is the world’s leading car-sharing network, driven by a mission to enable simple and responsible urban living. With its wide variety of self-service vehicles available by the hour or day, Zipcar operates in urban areas and university campuses in over 500 cities and towns across Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. Zipcar offers the most comprehensive, most convenient and most flexible car sharing options available. Zipcar is a subsidiary of Avis Budget Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:CAR), a leading global provider of vehicle rental services. More information is available at www.zipcar.com.