Average age of cars on US roads breaks record - USA TODAY
The average age of vehicles on the road in the U. S. is rising, even as consumers snap up more new ones — a paradox attributable to substantial increases in reliability. The typical car on the road in the U. S. is a record-high 11. 5 years old, according to a new IHS Automotive survey. Yet Americans are buying cars at an annualized rate of more than 17 million vehicles, marking a high not seen since before the Great Recession. In fact, U. S. vehicle owners bought 42% more cars than they scrapped in 2014, according to IHS. How are vehicles getting older, while Americans are buying newer cars, too. Simple: They're either keeping the old ones along with the new ones — know anyone who bought a new car and kept their old one in the driveway. — or the vehicle made its way into the used-car market, where someone else bought it. "Vehicles are simply lasting longer than ever before," Mark Seng, global aftermarket practice leader at IHS Automotive, told USA TODAY. The number of vehicles on the road that are at least 25 years old is about 14 million. Meanwhile, the number of vehicles that are 16 to 24 years old is 44 million. Source: www.usatoday.com
