The average age of vehicles on the road continues to break records
The good old car is far from having said its last word. A new study of the US automotive market by S&P Global Mobility reveals that the average age of vehicles on the road is at an all-time high, and may well continue to rise.
More precisely, the research firm tells us that vehicles on the road in the USA are currently 12.5 years old on average, three months older than on the same date in 2022, the sixth consecutive annual increase and the highest since the 2008-2009 recession. Twenty years ago, the figure was 9.7 years.
The report does not include data for Canada, but we can assume that the average age of vehicles is also at a record high on our side of the border. Of course, given our harsher climatic conditions and poorer road conditions, Canadian vehicles have a shorter lifespan. As an indication, the average age of vehicles in Canada was 9.66 years in 2016, compared with 11.6 years in the United States, according to Statista.
A phenomenon that harms some and benefits others
S&P Global Mobility attributes the phenomenon to, among other things, new vehicle supply constraints combined with skyrocketing prices and interest rates, resulting in a sharp drop in sales and people keeping their current vehicles for longer.
While this is bad news for car dealers, it's good news for their service and parts departments, independent service and repair shops, and specialist parts and accessories retailers. This sector of the industry has seen its sales increase by 8.5% since 2021, in the USA alone.
The average age of vehicles on the road could stabilize by 2024, says Todd Campau, Deputy Director of Aftermarket Solutions at S&P Global Mobility. However, he predicts that models seven years old or more will account for around three-quarters of the total fleet by 2028.
