Improved vehicle quality drives average age to 11.4 years

Improved vehicle quality drives average age to 11.4 years

Even as new-car sales rise to pre-recession levels, Americans are keeping their cars longer. The average age of vehicles on the road has hit a record high of 11.4 years, says research firm R.L. Polk. And the company expects that number to keep rising.

The average age has been increasing steadily since 2002, when it was 9.6. In the most recent analysis, Polk found that the volume of 6- to 11-year-old vehicles is declining, and of those 12 years or older are rising. Cars are higher quality and are lasting longer, Polk vice president Mark Seng told the Detroit News. The scrappage rate has dropped by half since the recession, he said.

The average age of cars on the road wont start to fall until new-vehicle sales have stayed high for several years, Peng said. Polk forecasts that the total number of vehicles on the road will grow 5 percent to more than 260 million by 2018. The number of vehicles 0 to 5 years old should grow by 41 percent while those 6 to 11 years falling by 22 percent, and those 12 years or older rise by 11.6 percent.