According to the folks over at Wards Auto, 2010 marked the first year that the worldwide vehicle population topped 1 billion units. That staggering figure marked a 3.6 percent increase over 2009. It’s also the largest single-year percentage increase since 2000.
Much of that growth can be attributed to China, which is now a larger automotive market than North America. The total number of vehicles registered in China in 2010 came in at a bit over 78 million, a 27.5 percent increase.
“China is on its own trajectory,” Thomas McGuckin, Pricewaterhouse Cooper’s Asia Pacific leader, told just-auto.com. “It’s truly breaking away from the rest of the world.”
Of course, there’s still plenty of demand for cars here in the United States. There’s one vehicle for every 1.3 people living. In China, that ratio is one car for every 17 people. Still, U.S. registrations grew less than 1 percent last year. With today’s economic uncertainly, one used Nissan Boston dealer continues to see especially healthy demand for affordable pre-owned models.
The number of vehicles in operation worldwide was just 500 million units in 1986. It took 24 years to surpass the 1 billion mark. With booming markets such as China, India, and Brazil, expect tremendous growth in the world’s vehicle population over the next few years.
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