Fifty-nine percent of car and pickup truck/SUV owners plan to keep their vehicles for four or more years, according to a recent survey conducted by automotive research consulting firm AutoPacific.
That number is up from 46% some four years ago, according to the firm.
"The public is wary about the current condition of the American automobile industry and the U.S. economy as a whole," say AutoPacific officials.
"People who previously bought a new car every one or two years have significantly scaled back their purchasing and those who before bought every three to four years are now waiting at least an additional year," says George Peterson, AutoPacific's president.
"We will not be seeing the frequent replacement pattern brought about by strong incentives and financing programs that made it easy and financially reasonable over the last decade for consumers to get into a new car frequently."
