The Costs of Car Ownership: Why It Matters
Futurists have been predicting the demise of the private passenger auto for decades – a quick online search on the topic yields hundreds of results rife with headlines like “Is Owning Your Car a Thing of the Past” and “Owning an Actual Car is Soon Going to Seem Obsolete.” Yet, there are more than 283 million vehicles on U.S. roads in 2022, with the most recent reports of vehicle miles traveled from the Federal Highway Administration finding that the number of cars being driven now surpass pre-COVID statistics despite elevated gasoline prices.2 Automakers’ marketing does not appear to perceive a slowdown in consumer interest in private passenger autos – they are projected to invest $17 billion in U.S. advertising alone this year.
For the significant majority of Americans, a car remains a necessity. With more than 76% of American commuters using their cars to move between home and work, the private passenger car remains the foremost mode of transportation, dwarfing public transportation, ride-sharing, bicycles, and all other options for transportation.
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