According to the most recent figures released by the World Bank, the number of "passenger cars" owned by Americans is LESS than in many European countries, as well as less than in Japan.
USA 401
Japan 455
UK 454
Switzerland 526
Austria 536
Netherlands 471
France 482
Germany 531
Greece 460
(the numbers are expressed as "passenger cars" per 1000 population.
Yet our intuitive answer to such a question would be that the USA has more cars per head than any other country of a significant size (I am ruling out tiny places like Monaco and suchlike here, because they do not reflect the conditions of a "normal" country, and very few folks live in them anyway).
How can this be?
The World Bank also has another measure of vehicle ownership, a more general measure which includes passenger cars, buses and freight vehicles, but not motorcycles,
Those figures come in at:
USA 786
Japan 588
UK 516
Switzerland 573
Austria 585
Netherlands 531
France 582
Germany 588
Greece 580
(numbers are expressed as "motor vehicles" per 1000 population)
Now I am sure we can agree that the second set of figures is much more like our expectations.
The country with the biggest jump between the two sets of figures is the USA.
the other countries add between about 50 and 130 (vehicles per 1000 population) when including trucks and buses, but the figure for the USA jumps by 385 - in fact it almost doubles!
So, are 49% of vehicles in the USA really freight vehicles and buses?
I suspect what is happening is that the love of some Americans for the pick-up truck is distorting the figures.
The best selling pick-up in the USA is consistently the Ford F150.
Many folks drive them as cars.
So is the F150 a "passenger car" or a "freight vehicle"?
I believe that many households use them as substitute "passenger cars" or as "dual-use" vehicles.
The same analysis would also apply to other pickups.
So that appears to be the explanation that "squares the circle" of how the USA can apparently have less "cars" than Europe (adjusted for population size), and yet actually have more at the same time.
USA 401
Japan 455
UK 454
Switzerland 526
Austria 536
Netherlands 471
France 482
Germany 531
Greece 460
(the numbers are expressed as "passenger cars" per 1000 population.
Yet our intuitive answer to such a question would be that the USA has more cars per head than any other country of a significant size (I am ruling out tiny places like Monaco and suchlike here, because they do not reflect the conditions of a "normal" country, and very few folks live in them anyway).
How can this be?
The World Bank also has another measure of vehicle ownership, a more general measure which includes passenger cars, buses and freight vehicles, but not motorcycles,
Those figures come in at:
USA 786
Japan 588
UK 516
Switzerland 573
Austria 585
Netherlands 531
France 582
Germany 588
Greece 580
(numbers are expressed as "motor vehicles" per 1000 population)
Now I am sure we can agree that the second set of figures is much more like our expectations.
The country with the biggest jump between the two sets of figures is the USA.
the other countries add between about 50 and 130 (vehicles per 1000 population) when including trucks and buses, but the figure for the USA jumps by 385 - in fact it almost doubles!
So, are 49% of vehicles in the USA really freight vehicles and buses?
I suspect what is happening is that the love of some Americans for the pick-up truck is distorting the figures.
The best selling pick-up in the USA is consistently the Ford F150.
Many folks drive them as cars.
So is the F150 a "passenger car" or a "freight vehicle"?
I believe that many households use them as substitute "passenger cars" or as "dual-use" vehicles.
The same analysis would also apply to other pickups.
So that appears to be the explanation that "squares the circle" of how the USA can apparently have less "cars" than Europe (adjusted for population size), and yet actually have more at the same time.
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