US Light Vehicle Sales Chart

US Light Vehicle Sales and the End of the Automobile

Eric Garland DataLab

With the success of Uber and the endless stories about Millennials not wanting to own cars, this chart of US light vehicle sales (hat tip to Calculated Risk Blog) tells a convincing story about the recovery after the crash of 2008, but it gives cause for doubt about whether the car was just a passing fad in the United States.

The 270,000 orders for Tesla Model 3 inside of three days is another data point that makes us doubt a car-free future.