Car Sales Statistics
Car sale statistics may be found online. The main source of reliable information on car sales statistics is the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. This information is provided online and may be accessed at their website. It provides comprehensive facts on motor vehicle statistics including two hundred and sixty data tables, data source and accuracy statements. The statistics are also updated on a quarterly basis. Additionally, any new information that is entered will be highlighted in bold. There are other websites that will be able to assist you in your search for specific details related to car sales statistics however some may not be up to date or may also rely heavily on the BTS to derive their information. Therefore it is always prudent to check the BTS first before using other websites.
Some of the related statistics are categorized as follows to address specific details. There are a few discrepancies the information presented because of some factors that will affect the overall data. These inconsistencies will be discussed further in their respective categories.
Total number of cars in the United States
As of 2007 the BTS has confirmed that the total number of passenger cars in the United States are 135,932,930. Other two axle four tire vehicles (SUV’s, pickup trucks and minivans) were estimated to be 101,469,615. The total figure is 237,402,545. This figure does not include large trucks and motor vehicles. There is currently no information published online for the vehicle count as of 2008.
According to NADA or the National Automobile Dealers Association the total number of vehicles in operation as of 2007 were 244,165,686. Of this amount 135,399,945 are cars and 107,943,782 trucks and buses. You can obtain this information from the website NADA where you will be able to download a file with the related data.
It is clear that there is a difference in the figures from the two sources. If large trucks and buses are included in the BTI statistics the number is definitively: 247,264,606 which is comprised of 6,806,630 (truck single unit), 2,220,995 (truck combination) and 834,436 (buses).
Therefore the difference between the two figures is 3,098,920. It is unclear where the fault lies in data collection but the noticeable differences in the associated figures suggest that the findings may not be entirely accurate. However it can be deduced that close to 250,000,000 million motor vehicles are operational at present.
The number of cars written off per year
The number of cars that are written off per year can be deduced by the number of cars that are sent to be scrapped. NADA gives estimates of these figures which as mentioned previously may be accessed here. A link to download appears on this page, all you will need to do is click this link to download the information. As of 2007 the amount has been estimated to be 12,707,216.
The number of cars that are financed
CNW Market Research has estimated that approximately 91% of new cars are financed. To access the website’s information you will have to subscribe to obtain full details on research information and statistics.
The BTI gives information on the number of cars that are leased and bought new. Of this figure an estimated 17.14% were leased as of 2008 including passenger cars and light trucks.
The number of cars that are repossessed
It is estimated that 1.5 million cars are repossessed annually by creditors when owners are no longer able to make credit payments. The link below also gives additional information on car repossession and a list of external references/links.
The number of cars that are serviced by the manufacturer’s dealership.
This figure is not easily derived because of the possibility that some car owners may perform simple servicing on their cars themselves or use other independently owned service centres for some minor or major issues. These owners may only use dealerships when the work is completely covered by a warranty. As of 2007 most dealerships were receiving 81% of their profits from servicing and the sale of parts. This was largely as the result of many dealerships expanding their servicing facilities which by 2007 saw a total of 366,157 service centres being operated by most dealerships. Overall there has been an increase in the number of cars being serviced at dealerships, however the exact figure is not given. To access this information go to the NADA link and click on the download link to retrieve this information: NADA
The average time that a car is kept by the original owner.
On average most people in the United States will keep their cars for 5 or more years. At least 40% of people will own their vehicles for over 6 years. Only 0.2% of individuals will keep a car for under a year. 35% of individuals will keep their car anywhere between 3-5 years. This information may be found using this link which is a downloadable .pdf file.
The number of new cars that are sold.
According to the BTS the number of new cars sold are: 10,933,000 new vehicle sales (cars and light trucks). This figure does not include the number of cars that are leased. A complete number of cars that are leased and sold would be 49,725,000. All these figures relate to the year ended 2008.
According to NADA between the years 1997-2007 a total number of 8,060,218 cars are sold on average annually. The total number is 16,535,927 light duty vehicles on average per year.
The figures, once again, show a clear difference with the NADA value for new vehicle sales which are higher than that of the BTS. The discrepancies cannot be entirely accounted for but it can be estimated that at least 10 million vehicles or more were sold as of 2008.
The number of used cars that are sold.
The BTS has placed the figure of used cars sold at: 36,530,000 as of 2008 which is almost triple the amount of cars that were bought new during the same period.
NADA estimates that the total number of used vehicles that are sold are just about 18.5 million as of 2007. This figure is remarkably lower than that of the BTS. However the inconsistency may be partly related to the one year difference between the two statistical interpretations.