U.S. Car Buyers Waiting Longer to Make Purchases

But First Snide's Remarks:Today's cars and trucks are being built so well that consumers will not "need" to replace them. We believe that until carmakers tap into the "excitement" aspect of new models or Cash for Clunkers expands, the doldrums will continue to prevent a full recovery of the auto industry and world economy. What do you think? msnide@theautochannel.com

Washington DC July 16, 2009; The AIADA newsletter reported that the percentage of Americans planning to wait more than four years before buying a new car has grown 28.1 percent since 2005, a new study shows.

That may slow the recovery of sales rates stuck at 27-year lows. According to Automotive News, nearly 59 percent of recent new-vehicle buyers in an annual survey conducted by automotive research firm AutoPacific said they planned to buy their next new car in more than four years. That's up from 46 percent of respondents in 2005 and 44.8 percent last year.

AutoPacific conducted the survey in April, when the U.S. light-vehicle sales rate hit 9.5 million units, down from 14.7 million a year earlier.

The 32,000 respondents had all purchased 2009-model-year light vehicles some time between September and December. The group said in June that 2.3 percent of its respondents planned to buy a new vehicle in six months, slightly up from 2.2 percent in both April and June 2008. That's higher than the 1.5 percent of AutoPacific respondents who said they would buy a new vehicle in six months to one year.

The Conference Board's new-vehicle purchase plan measure hit a low in November, with 1.4 percent saying they planned to buy a new car in six months. That's less than half the average 3.8 percent that have answered that way in the study's 42-year history.