Ahead of Memorial Day and summer driving season, new data looks at vehicle trends among American consumers
Clearwater, FL – April 12, 2018—Ahead of the Memorial Day holiday and heavy summer driving season, new research shows that consumers in the Midwest are keeping their cars longer than any other region of the United States. Digital Media Solutions (DMS) released new data that redefines the term “road warriors” to be those Americans that have cars with the highest mileage. According to DMS, the average mileage on a car in the Midwest was 35% higher than the average mileage across the country. Also, on average consumers in red states drove cars with the highest mileage. Americans in general have been holding onto cars longer and, according to the IHS Markit, the average age of a car on the road is almost 12 years old. According to Consumer Reports, almost any car can make it to 200,000 miles and beyond, but some consumers hold onto cars longer than others.
Midwest
The average mileage on a car in the Midwest was 35% higher than the average mileage across the country. But there was a big divide within the Midwest as mileage on cars in the East North Central region averaged 64% higher than mileage in the West North Central region.
South
Average mileage in the South was 5% lower than the U.S. average last year. However, the East South Central states of Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee bucked the region’s trend. Their average mileage was 30% higher than the country’s average.
West
In the western region of the U.S., the average automobile mileage was 8% lower than the country. Mileage for the Mountain and Pacific regions were comparable, varying by just a few percent.
Northeast
Average car mileage was lowest in the Northeast in 2017. The Mid-Atlantic states of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania had the lowest average ― 17% below the nation. Mileage in New England was just 10% lower than the average across the U.S.
Auto ownership information provided by consumers searching for auto warranties was utilized for this report. According to Statista data, there were 268.8 million registered vehicles in the U.S. in 2016. The sample size for this report accounted for more than 10% of registered vehicles.