America’s vanishing cars

Through recessions and gas shocks, the number of autos on the road every year has increased since the end of WWII. Until now.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — In another sign of just how far the U.S. auto industry has fallen, this is likely to be the first year since 1945 when the number of new cars bought will be less than the number of cars turned in to the junk yard.

Auto industry research firm R.L. Polk is forecasting a drop in total auto registrations for the first time since car plants were busy turning out tanks for World War II. This time it’s economic distress and tight credit keeping purchases down.


There could be nearly a 4 million vehicle drop in the number of registrations during the 12-months ending June 30, the period during which Polk tracks those figures. That’s 1.6% of the total fleet of cars and light trucks that had been on the road as of July 1 2008, just before the bottom fell out of the new car market.

There were about 14 million cars taken off the road in the 12 months ending last June. During the same period auto sales fell 7% in the face of high gas prices, but still came in at 15.3 million.

But with sales now down to about a 10 million annual sales pace, a decline in the number of vehicles on the road is almost inevitable.

CNN