Aging Of America, Vehicular Division

Automakers have another problem these days: Their vehicles are too durable. A report by R.L. Polk & Co., which tracks the auto industry, finds the median age of Americans’ cars creeping steadily upward (see chart below). While probably good news for people who own cars, it’s a very mixed blessing for those who manufacture them. Just 4.5 percent of the nation’s motor-vehicle fleet was scrapped last year, the lowest “scrappage rate” (as it’s know in the trade) since 1949.