Average age of the vehicle fleet

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Topics: Transport ,

Assessment made on 01 Dec 2005

Note: new version is available!

Jan 12, 2011 - Average age of the vehicle fleet (TERM 033) - Assessment published Jan 2011
Sep 03, 2010 - Average age of the vehicle fleet (TERM 033) - Assessment published Sep 2010
Apr 21, 2009 - Average age of the vehicle fleet (TERM 033) - Assessment published Apr 2009

Generic metadata

Classification

Transport (Primary theme)

DPSIR: Driving force

Identification

Indicator codes

TERM 033

Geographical coverage:

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Contents

Policy issue: Improve the fleet composition by replacing older, more polluting vehicles with newer, cleaner ones

Key messages

The average age of passenger cars in the EU15 increased from 6.9 years in 1995 to 7.5 years in 2004. The penetration rate of modern technologies is therefore slowing down. The average age of passenger cars in some of the new member states decreases in the time period considered, with the exception of Slovenia, which exhibits an increase of the average age of its passenger car fleet. Further lowering of the average age of passenger cars in the new member states can be expected with rising GDP, provided that old cars are scrapped and policies are in place to ensure that new cars will penetrate the vehicle fleet faster than second-hand vehicles.

Figures

Average age of passenger cars in the EU and in selected countries

Key assessment

The average age of passenger cars in the EEA varies widely between countries. The lowest average age for the year 2004 was observed in Luxembourg (3 years), highest in Greece (13 years). The high average age of passenger cars in Greece relates to the general economic conditions. Data series on non-EU15 countries are only available for Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Norway, Slovenia and Poland (see Figure 1).