While trends across the automotive industry are always shifting, the surge in popularity for SUVs and pickup trucks has stood steady for decades. Consequently, the passenger car population has dipped below 100 million for the first time since the early 1970s. It’s a sign of the times that coupes, hatchbacks, sedans and wagons aren’t as ubiquitous as they once were.
This gradual decline in passenger cars was tracked by S&P Global Mobility. The company noted that car registrations accounted for only 20% of the market for the past few years. A disproportionate turnover rate also fueled the decline. Two passenger cars were being scrapped for every new passenger car registered. Between 2020 and 2023, over 27 million cars had a date with a crusher while only 13 million new cars were registered. However, the trajectory was flipped for light trucks. Over the same period, 26 million light trucks got sent to the heap while nearly 45 million new light trucks hit the road.
People are holding onto cars longer as they get more expensive
The gap between cars and light trucks is now even evident when looking at average vehicle age. The light trucks swarming America’s roads are 11.9 years old on average, 2.6 years younger than the average car. This divergence is a relatively new phenomenon because these two figures were exactly the same in 2015. The only thing keeping the two from shooting apart is the decline in the rising price of new vehicles in general. The average price is $49,740, according to Kelley Blue Book. That figure was only $34,428 in 2015.
The proliferation of large vehicles isn’t just a meaningless shift in taste. There are genuine repercussions. The number of traffic deaths reached a 16-year high in 2021 with 42,939 fatalities. Increased enforcement helped bring that figure down to 39,345 deaths last year, but it is still worse than the 2010s by a wide margin. The only way to make a significant impact would be for the federal government to rewrite regulations to discourage automakers from making large vehicles such a prominent part of their lineups. However, the Trump administration is far more concerned with making EVs more expensive.
