This week’s Graphs of the Week come from the US Dept. of Energy’s energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy program, and they address a pretty basic fact of American transportation: The mix of cars vs. light trucks in new vehicle sales, and who’s driving them. (“Light trucks” is a term of art meaning pickup trucks, minivans, and SUVs. Add your own rude comment here about how “light” some SUVs are.)
The first graph is sales, Vehicle Technologies Program: Fact #553: January 12, 2009 Market Share of New Cars vs. Light Trucks:
There’s not a whole lot to say about this one. The trends underlying these curves are pretty obvious, and I expect them to really kick into overdrive in the next few years as fewer people buy trucks simply because they want one. The era of trucks being used in the US for other than business and institutional purposes is quickly coming to a close.
You can find the index of this year’s EERE Facts of the Week here.
The second graph is use of pickup trucks, Vehicle Technologies Program: Fact #409: January 30, 2006 Personal vs. Business Use of Pickup Trucks:
See the page linked above for the numbers, but you’re reading this right–over 90% of light pickup truck use and over 80% of medium duty pickup use are for personal reasons. (Note that this is just pickup trucks, meaning a subset of all light trucks, and therefore excludes minivans and SUVs.)
