Americans buy fewer new cars lifetime income

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American consumers will buy significantly less new cars in the course of their lives, says a new study.

Chalk another one for the recession and how it has changed life in America. Now fewer new cars in the course of their lives expect new analysis of the automotive research that shows solid Polk Americans to buy.

On average, we buy almost four fewer new cars at the time each of us hits 76 years old, the age, when Polk believes most people are done buying new vehicles.

"The days when you purchased a vehicle for 4 or 5 years are probably over,", said Anthony Pratt, Polk Director of forecast.

How much have things before the recession since changed? Pratt analysis is here.

To buy new, but not so often

We have talked longer clinging to their new cars for some time about Americans and the reasons have been well documented. Cars last longer and as their prices gone, people are less inclined to taking a monthly payment. Since the recession, they have the length of time a new loan pay off stretched. In other words, people expect six, seven or eight years after they buy it now in your car.

That is a dramatic change from established generally in the automotive industry. For years buy automakers on Americans on average a new car or truck-counted every three or four years. Some of that was due to our vehicles, showing their age earlier.

"When we were younger, we had vehicles from the need to replace out." "This not the case is more", said Pratt. "The vehicles have a much better quality, so really they are much longer, there is no need to replace vehicles."

Less chance for automakers to keep and stealing from customers

Because Americans are now forecast to buy fewer new vehicles in their lifetimes, this means that automakers have less chances to steal customers.

"Conquest buy", if a customer of a brand switch a brand to another brand is persuaded, has long been an important part of the building, sales and market share. This is won the Korean car manufacturer in the United States, such as the Japanese automaker and recently, market share

That's harder, with people on their new cars that last longer. In the past you would start looking for a new car every three or four years, and if you perhaps begin look at several brands not only that which you drove.

Conversely, as we longer between new car what we want or need to buy already, can change in a new model more the years pass. As a result Pratt said, the brand that on the road we are possibly not the type of vehicle, or styles, we want for the next phase of our lives.

"It is more difficult to keep a buyer especially if they have changed phases in their lives," said Pratt. "Their needs for a vehicle may have changed, so they can abandon the brand, which have sold for many years."