This is I think, the majority view of people in college or fresh out, these days. Car ownership just isn't a thing with the new crowd. I'm a car guy, so this baffles me, but in one sense I can see it. Starting with the 50s, cars embodied freedom, but specifically a guy with a car could take his girl to a place away from prying eyes and make out or have sex, so having a good car was a critical social signal. Good car meant more likely to have sex, and that's a hell of a draw in the high school and college years.
Society has changed a lot, of course, and for young people who aren't driving enthusiasts, that social signal is vanishing. A car is seen as just an expensive hassle (even though reliability is vastly higher than cars for the 80s); just a way to get where the bus doesn't run. Well, you can't argue with taste. I don't think any of it will have much effect on the enthusiast car market anyhow: I'm entirely unconcerned with the future evolution of the Camry.
With college tuition exploding at an uncontrolled rate, all the disposable income that the kids would be spending on cars is going to the banks instead. We are transforming to a society where the majority of people don't own anything. Getting back to the article, this is a smart move by GM. If there will only be car rentals in the future with robot drivers, GM may as well get in on the ground floor of the new business model.
