2000 Vehicle Population Points to Slow Rising Truck Registrations
31 October 2000
Year 2000 Vehicle Population Points to Slow Rising Truck Registrations; Polk Analysis Shows Median Car Age Remains Stable, While Truck Age Declines
LAS VEGAS--Oct. 31, 2000--According to The Polk Company's analysis of Vehicles In Operation (VIO) in 2000, trucks represent over 40 percent of all registered vehicles on the road today -an all time high, surpassing last year's record and marking an increase of nearly 5 percentage points since 1994.
PERCENT OF U.S. VEHICLES IN USE(2)
Year Cars Trucks(1)
1994 64.6 35.4
1995 63.7 36.3
1996 62.8 37.2
1997 62.0 38.0
1998 61.4 38.6
1999 60.6 39.4
2000 59.9 40.1
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Source: Polk (1)GVW 1-8 (2)As of 7/1 for each year
"Although trucks have captured a growing share of total operating
vehicles, the rate of growth for total truck registration has
declined, as has the growth rate for car registration," said Lonnie
Miller, Performance Consultant for Polk's Aftermarket Team. "This
reaffirms our observation that U.S. households are adding vehicles to
their personal fleet at a slower pace. Unless something really
triggers dramatic demand for this category, we're expecting this
cooled growth pace to continue for a while."
ANNUAL VOLUME GROWTH RATE OF U.S. VIO(2)
Year Cars Trucks(1)
1994 NA NA
1995 1.0 5.2
1996 1.1 5.0
1997 0.1 3.7
1998 1.0 3.5
1999 0.7 4.5
2000 0.7 3.6
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Source: Polk (1)GVW 1-8 (2)As of 7/1 for each year
The continued influx of new trucks on U.S. highways has decreased
the median age of all trucks in operation to less than 7 years, the
lowest since 1991. For cars on the road today, the median age of 8.3
years has remained steady since 1998.
MEDIAN AGE OF VEHICLES ON THE ROAD(2)
Year Cars Trucks(1)
1991 6.7 6.8
1992 7.0 7.2
1993 7.3 7.5
1994 7.5 7.5
1995 7.7 7.6
1996 7.9 7.7
1997 8.1 7.8
1998 8.3 7.6
1999 8.3 7.2
2000 8.3 6.9
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Source: Polk (1)GVW 1-8 (2)As of 7/1 for each year
"Part of the reason we're seeing a relatively younger truck age
compared to cars, has a lot to do with healthy new truck sales coupled
with increasing scrappage rates in this segment," said Dan Chester,
Managing Director of Polk's Aftermarket and OE Supplier Team. "The
continued investments on quality enhancements have really improved the
caliber of vehicles sold in the U.S. However, we know that many trucks
are driven for purposes different from those of passenger cars. In
addition, many new segments are surfacing within the truck category.
Both of these factors can drive up scrappage rates."
VEHICLE SCRAPPAGE RATES(2)
Year Car Truck(1) Scrappage Total Vehicles
Scrappage
1970 9.5% 5.0% 8.7%
1980 8.1% 5.1% 7.4%
1990 7.2% 4.1% 6.3%
1995 6.1% 4.4% 5.5%
2000 6.4% 7.5% 6.8%
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Source: Polk (1)GVW 1-8 (2)As of 7/1 for each year
