That clunker in
America's driveway has reached a record old age, but there are signs
that people may be growing confident enough in the economy to get a
whiff of that fresh new car scent very soon.
The
average age of a car or truck in the U.S. hit a record 10.8 years last
year as job security and other economic worries kept many people from
making big-ticket purchases such as a new car.
That's
up from the old record of 10.6 years in 2010, and it and continues a
trend that dates to 1995, when the average age of a car was 8.4 years,
according to a study of state vehicle registration data by the
Southfield, Mich.-based Polk automotive research firm.
Last year, auto sales rebounded a bit to
12.8 million vehicles, especially in November and December, when sales
were unusually strong. In 2010, U.S. sales totaled 11.6 million after
hitting a 30-year low of 10.4 million in 2009. Polk expects sales around
13.7 million this year, rising by about 1 million per year through
2015, when they reach about 16 million. That's back to around what
industry analysts consider normal, and approaching the U.S. sales peak
of 17 million in 2005. More...
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