Look, Mom and Dad: Millennials are ready to buy a car

It turns out the generation that drove Uber and ZipCar into prominence may finally be taking the plunge and buying cars. Millennials-- those born from 1980 to the late 90s-- will make up one-quarter of the new car buying market this year. That equals $135 billion dollars in revenue for automakers.

According to a new survey out from TrueCar, an automotive pricing and information website, Millennial consumers will purchase 4.24 million cars and light trucks in 2015.

“There is pent-up demand for cars [among this age group],” says Yahoo Finance Senior Columnist Michael Santoli. “It seems like it’s probably going to be unleashed relatively soon.”

That's good news for the U.S. auto industry, which ended 2014 on a high note. Last year, automakers sold 16.52 million new cars and trucks, a 5.9% increase from 2013. Consultant J.D. Power and Associates forecasts sales will hit a record high in 2015. New vehicle sales for the month of January will be released tomorrow. Expectations are the report will show a 14% increase from last January.

So much for that stereotype of the lazy Millennial who would rather live at home avoiding major life milestones. Also fading is the perception that Millennials will always prefer a share economy (think ZipCars and AirBNB) to big purchases. “I think this shows is that mostly what we have described as the kind of Millennial phenomenon of not buying cars and homes and perhaps living with the parents and things like that has mostly been about them being young and the Great Recession kind of intervening,” says Santoli. “They’re not different,” he says, “Just delayed.”

Delayed by the recession and held down by crushing student loan debt, that is. But now, the job market is turning around for them, and Millennials will soon surpass Baby Boomers are the largest generation alive according to new analysis of Census Bureau data by Pew Research. When these folks are ready to consume, it's “going to be good for the economy.”

So are cars a gateway purchase for buying a home? Maybe not. Homeownship hit its lowest level in 20 years last year and economists say the housing market-- and the overall economy-- needs a shot in the arm from first-time home buyers. Millennials probably aren't there yet, according to Santoli. Purchasing a car is not, “The buy-a-house and have-a-couple-of kids-immediately kind of decision…that really would kind of kick the economy-- over a number of years-- into higher gear.”

The key, for this generation, may be baby steps. “It’s just a stage and it’s the incremental stage,” says Santoli. “A car comes with a job very often," he says, "And that’s really the first step."