Car Registrations for Selected Countries, 1950‐2006 (thousands)
The 1997 data in this series were never published. The U.S. is unique in how many light trucks (SUVs, minivans, pickups) are used for personal travel. Those light trucks are not included on this table. The U.S. share of world cars has been declining since 1998.
| Year | China | India | Japan | France | United Kingdom |
Germany (a) |
Canada (b) |
United States (c) |
U.S. percentage of world (c) |
World total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | (d) | (d) | 43 | (d) | 2,307 | (d) | 1,913 | 40,339 | 76.0% | 53,051 |
| 1955 | (d) | (d) | 153 | (d) | 360 | (d) | 2,961 | 52,145 | 71.4% | 73,036 |
| 1960 | (d) | (d) | 457 | 4,950 | 5,650 | 4,856 | 4,104 | 61,671 | 62.7% | 98,305 |
| 1965 | (d) | (d) | 2,181 | 8,320 | 9,131 | 9,719 | 5,279 | 75,258 | 53.8% | 139,776 |
| 1970 | (d) | (d) | 8,779 | 11,860 | 11,802 | 14,376 | 6,602 | 89,244 | 46.1% | 193,479 |
| 1975 | (d) | (d) | 17,236 | 15,180 | 14,061 | 18,161 | 8,870 | 106,706 | 41.0% | 260,201 |
| 1980 | 351 | (d) | 23,660 | 18,440 | 15,438 | 23,236 | 10,256 | 121,601 | 38.0% | 320,390 |
| 1985 | 795 | 1,607 | 27,845 | 20,800 | 18,953 | 26,099 | 11,118 | 127,885 | 34.5% | 370,504 |
| 1990 | 1,622 | 2,694 | 34,924 | 23,010 | 22,528 | 30,695 | 12,622 | 133,700 | 30.7% | 435,050 |
| 1991 | 1,852 | 2,954 | 37,076 | 23,550 | 22,744 | 31,309 | 12,578 | 128,300 | 29.1% | 441,377 |
| 1992 | 2,262 | 3,205 | 38,963 | 24,020 | 23,008 | 37,579 | 12,781 | 126,581 | 28.0% | 452,311 |
| 1993 | 2,860 | 3,361 | 40,772 | 24,385 | 23,402 | 39,202 | 12,927 | 127,327 | 28.3% | 450,473 |
| 1994 | 3,497 | 3,569 | 42,678 | 24,900 | 23,832 | 39,918 | 13,122 | 127,883 | 27.0% | 473,487 |
| 1995 | 4,179 | 3,837 | 44,680 | 25,100 | 24,307 | 40,499 | 13,183 | 128,387 | 26.9% | 477,010 |
| 1996 | 4,700 | 4,246 | 46,868 | 25,500 | 24,864 | 41,045 | 13,300 | 129,728 | 26.7% | 485,954 |
| 1997 | Data are not available. | |||||||||
| 1998 | 2,940 | 4,820 | 49,896 | 26,800 | 22,115 | 41,674 | 13,887 | 131,839 | 27.5% | 478,625 |
| 1999 | 3,400 | 5,200 | 51,164 | 27,480 | 27,539 | 42,423 | 16,538 | 126,869 | 26.7% | 496,059 |
| 2000 | 3,750 | 5,150 | 52,437 | 28,060 | 27,185 | 43,772 | 16,832 | 127,721 | 23.3% | 547,147 |
| 2001 | 4,325 | 5,750 | 53,300 | 28,700 | 27,790 | 44,383 | 17,055 | 128,714 | 22.9% | 561,652 |
| 2002 | 4,950 | 6,945 | 54,540 | 29,160 | 28,484 | 44,657 | 17,544 | 129,907 | 22.5% | 575,847 |
| 2003 | 6,789 | 6,669 | 55,213 | 29,560 | 29,008 | 44,023 | 17,755 | 130,800 | 22.1% | 589,272 |
| 2004 | 7,900 | 7,300 | 55,994 | 29,900 | 29,378 | 45,376 | 17,290 | 132,823 | 22.0% | 603,274 |
| 2005 | 8,900 | 7,654 | 57,091 | 30,100 | 30,652 | 46,090 | 18,124 | 132,909 | 21.5% | 617,914 |
| 2006 | 11,000 | 8,100 | 57,521 | 30,400 | 30,920 | 46,570 | 18,739 | 135,047 | 21.3% | 635,284 |
| Average annual percentage change | ||||||||||
| 1950–2006 | (d) | (d) | 13.7% | (d) | 4.7% | (d) | 4.2% | 2.2% | 4.5% | |
| 1970–2006 | (d) | (d) | 5.4% | 2.6% | 2.7% | 3.3% | 2.9% | 1.2% | 3.4% | |
| 1996–2006 | 8.9% | 6.7% | 2.1% | 1.8% | 2.2% | 1.1% | 3.5% | 0.4% | 2.7% | |
Source: Ward’s Communications, Ward’s World Motor Vehicle Data, 2007 Edition, Southfield, MI, 2008, pp. 241–244 and annual.
(Additional resources: www.wardsauto.com)
(a) Data for 1991 and prior include West Germany only. Kraftwagen are included with automobiles.
(b) Data from 1991 and later are not comparable to prior data and data from 1999 and later are not comparable to prior data.
(c) Data from 1985 and later are not comparable to prior data.
(d) Data are not available.
