Fewer 2025 Miles Per Vehicle than in 2018 as New Dynamics Power Aftermarket Growth
Nationwide, the average miles per light vehicle will increase at a moderate pace this year.
Nevertheless, Lang Marketing projects that during 2025, the typical car and light truck in the U.S. will travel approximately 220 fewer miles than in 2018, seven years earlier. The historic 2020 mileage plunge reflects economic and societal changes caused by the pandemic that will affect Americans’ driving habits for many more years.
Despite this, the light vehicle aftermarket will surge by more than $21 billion in product sales at user-price from 2018 to 2025. See the all-new 2026 Lang Aftermarket Annual Report for a 10-year analysis of the total annual mileage on U.S. roads, the changing yearly miles per vehicle and the annual product volume of the light vehicle aftermarket.
VIO Grows Faster than Mileage
This year, the number of light vehicles in operation (VIO) will increase by approximately 0.7 percent. At the same time, total miles driven by cars and light trucks in 2025 will climb at a slightly faster pace.
As a result, the average car or light truck will be driven an estimated 1.1 percent more miles in 2025 than in 2024, but still below 2018 levels.
500 Billion Lost Miles
Since 2018, the number of light vehicles on U.S. roads has increased at an average annual rate of just over 0.9 percent.
Concurrently, the annual mileage of cars and light trucks in the U.S. climbed at an average rate of 0.7 percent.
As a result, there was a total “loss” of over 500 billion light vehicle miles during these seven years, given the increased number of cars and light trucks on the road and their lower annual miles driven compared to 2018.
Aftermarket Impact of Fewer Miles
According to conventional thinking, fewer miles travelled by the average car and light truck should negatively impact aftermarket product volume. However, while the average vehicle’s annual mileage has declined over the past seven years, its age has soared at a record pace, resulting in an unprecedented number of cars and light trucks over 15 years old.
Since older vehicles require more aftermarket products per mile than newer cars and light trucks, the decline in annual miles driven per vehicle has been more than offset by their rising average age, which has promoted aftermarket product growth.
Age Growth and Vehicle Nameplate
Since 2018, the average age of light vehicles has climbed by more than a full year, with the number of cars and light trucks topping 15 years old soaring sharply.
Vehicle age growth has been disproportionately concentrated among domestic nameplates, helping them to stave off an even more dramatic decline in aftermarket product volume than would be expected given their shrinking population.
2020 Historic Mileage Plunge
Average miles per light vehicle fell by about 220 between 2018 and 2025. This reduction was caused mainly by the double-digit collapse of travel during 2020, when COVID-19 pushed the average light vehicle’s annual mileage below 10,000.
Long-term economic and societal changes resulting from the pandemic have continued to prolong the recovery in light-vehicle mileage.
Continuing Average Annual Mileage Trend
Lang Marketing expects the average vehicle’s annual miles to increase moderately during 2025 compared to last year, but to fall short of the 11,580 miles recorded in 2018.
This trend will continue for several more years.
Vehicle Age Growth Helps Offset Fewer Miles
Older vehicles require more repair and maintenance products and services per mile than newer cars and light trucks.
Lang Marketing expects both the average vehicle age and the number of older vehicles in the U.S., particularly those over 15 years old, to keep climbing. This trend will help boost aftermarket light-vehicle product volume through 2025 despite the average vehicle’s annual mileage failing to reach 2018 levels.
Six Major Takeaways:
• Although the average miles per light vehicle is increasing at a moderate pace this year, Lang Marketing projects that the typical car and light truck in the U.S. will travel fewer miles in 2025 than in 2018, seven years ago.
• The average light vehicle in the U.S. will be driven about 220 fewer miles during 2025 than in 2018. Nevertheless, soaring vehicle age, up by over a year, and the unprecedented number of cars and light trucks over 15 years old will be instrumental in generating more than a $21 billion surge in aftermarket product volume at user-price over these seven years.
• So far, annual miles per vehicle have not been able to overcome the dramatic impact of COVID-19, which slashed driving in 2020 at a historic rate. This double-digit mileage plunge reflected economic and societal changes caused by the pandemic that will affect Americans’ driving habits for many years to come.
• Despite the increased number of cars and light trucks on the road, their lower annual miles each year caused a total “loss” of over 500 billion light vehicle miles from 2018 to 2025. This resulted in the average vehicle’s odometer rolling up several thousand fewer miles during these seven years.
• The negative impact on aftermarket product volume from the average vehicle’s declining yearly mileage has been more than offset by the soaring age of cars and light trucks on U.S. roads and the surge in vehicles aged 15 years or more, since older vehicles use more products per mile than younger models.
• Lang Marketing expects the average annual miles of cars and light trucks to increase gradually, but the 2025 mileage for the typical light vehicle to remain lower than in 2018. Nevertheless, the light vehicle aftermarket will climb to more than $21 billion at user-price from 2018 to 2025. See the expanded 2026 Lang Aftermarket Annual Report for a 10-year analysis of the falling annual mileage of the average light vehicle in the U.S. and the nation’s surging aftermarket product volume and more, visit langmarketing.com/lang-auto-aftermarket-annual-report.php.
Want more? Check out the January 2026 issue of AASP-MN News!