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Average vehicle age increases, increasing diversity in vehicles and demographics of owners to guide conversations next week
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (November 1, 2024) – With the average age of light vehicles in the US continuing to rise, the aftermarket remains poised for growth, albeit in different ways than historically seen, according to S&P Global Mobility. The average age of the fleet has risen to 12.6 years, which will continue to provide increased opportunities to maintain vehicles over their extending lifecycle.
Vehicle maintenance and repair opportunities are expected to rise as the fleet continues to age as a whole. This is led by the fact that record new vehicle sales from 2015-2019 of over 17M vehicles annually are all now entering the aftermarket sweet spot, which is typically identified as starting at the age of 6 years old and extending to at least 12 years of age, or older. Further, while the pandemic brought on a year of slower mileage accumulation to the vehicle fleet in 2020, subsequent years have demonstrated an increasingly strong volume of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and 2024 is trending to be the better still with light vehicles expecting to eclipse 13,000 miles traveled on average for the year. Also contributing to increasing opportunities is a modest scrappage rate that continues to be just 4.6%, according to the analysis.
“With new vehicle sales continuing to hover just under 16M units and scrappage rates continuing to be moderate, opportunities for aftermarket maintenance are repair are expected to abound,” said Todd Campau, aftermarket practice leader, S&P Global Mobility. “That said, the composition of the vehicles in operation has been shifting, and so too have the demographics of vehicle owners. To capitalize on available opportunities, retailers and repair facilities will need to be agile in shifting their product and service offerings and adjusting messaging to reach consumers effectively,” he said.
Campau will share insights and highlight these and other key factors of influence on the aftermarket during two presentations next week at the Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo (AAPEX) and SEMA Shows. His presentation, Trends Impacting the North American Aftermarket, will be replicated at both events. Presentation details are as follows:
SEMA – November 7, 11-12 pm, Las Vegas Convention Center, Room W311
AAPEX – November 5, 11-12 pm, The Venetian Level 1, Galileo Room 901
