Average vehicle age in U.S. hits new high

Despite ever growing new car sales, the average age of all light vehicles in operation in the United States has crept up to an all-time high of 11.5 years.

Using a snapshot of data taken from January 1 of this year, IHS Automotive discovered that the average vehicle age in the United States now stands at 11.5 years. That figure is the highest IHS has ever recorded.

Registrations for vehicles in operation, or VIO, also hit a record high this year with 257,900,000 cars and trucks now on our roads. That’s up more than 2 percent, or roughly 5.3 million vehicles, from a year earlier.

Not surprising given those figures, the average length of vehicle ownership is also up in the United States. New car buyers now hold on to their vehicles for 77.8 months while used car buyers retain their vehicles for 63 months on average. Those figures are up a whopping 26 months and 25 months, respectively, compared to the first quarter of 2006.

IHS predicts that the average vehicle age will hit 11.6 years in 2016 before inching up to 11.7 years in 2018.