In terms of the weeks worked to buy a vehicle, Canada used to be ahead of the U.S. as recently as 1986, when the tally was 22.7 for us and 23.4 for the Americans. That was the end of a period that went back to 1982, when the comparative rates were 20.0 and 21.9.In 1987, Canada's rate went to 24.1 weeks of the average-paid work to buy the average-priced vehicle, with the U.S. figure staying at 1986's level -- 23.4.
At the same time, cars and light trucks are lasting about 40 per cent longer than they did in 1970, and about 23 per cent longer than they did only a decade ago.
Riding the vast increases in build quality over the past 10 years, the AIA study finds , the average mileage at which a vehicle is taken off the road has gone from 153,715 km in 1970 to 219,526 km today, a boost of 65,811 km.
There was also a significant drop in durability between 1969 and 1979, as the average distance a vehicle lasted went from 161,676 km to 153,715 km.
Perhaps partly as a result of this increased durability, there are more and more vehicles on the road every year, which comes as no surprise to anyone who drives.
In 1999, the AIA study forecasts, there are 16,660,861 passenger cars and light trucks on Canadian roads, up from 15,509,253 in 1992. The projection is that there'll be 17,178,681 registered vehicles in 2002.