Over the course of the 20th century, the number of operational motor vehicles in the United States grew significantly, from just 8,000 automobiles in the year 1900 to more than 183 million private and commercial vehicles in the late 1980s. Generally, the number of vehicles increased in each year, with the most notable exceptions during the Great Depression and Second World War.

Some 284.6 million vehicles were registered in the United States in 2023. The figures include passenger cars, motorcycles, trucks, buses, and other vehicles. The number of light trucks sold in the U.S. stood at 12.4 million units in 2023. U.S. vehicle registrations The United States is one of the world’s largest automobile markets based on the number of new light vehicle registrations, with more than 15.5 million new light vehicle registrations in 2023. However, domestic production of automobiles stood at around 1.7 million units in 2023, which was under half the output recorded in 2016. At the same time, the United States imports a significant number of vehicles and vehicle parts from various countries, such as Japan, Mexico, and Canada. Leading car manufacturers in the United States The leading car manufacturers overall in the United States include the domestic heavyweights General Motors and Ford. With respect to car brands, the Ford brand clocked in at number one in 2024, selling around 2.1 million vehicles in the United States alone. The brand's holding company is the Ford Motor Company; it was founded by Henry Ford in 1903 in Dearborn, Michigan. The company pioneered in large-scale car manufacturing and introduced production methods such as the assembly line.

In select years in the 1970s and 1980s, the number of motor vehicles produced in the United States greatly outnumbered the number produced in the Soviet Union. In 1970, there were almost 20 passenger cars produced in the U.S. for every one produced in the USSR, while trucks and buses were produced at a ratio of three to one. Soviet production did increase over the following two decades, but even in 1985, U.S. production was still over six times higher for cars, and almost four times higher for trucks and buses. Car manufacturing in the Soviet Union Prior to the 1960s, the automobile industry in the Soviet Union was fairly limited and the Soviet government prioritized the manufacturing of larger vehicles as they believed that it would be of greater benefit to society and the economy (this is reflected in data for 1970). However the demand for individual cars saw automobile production increase throughout the 1970s and 1980s, when output began to exceed one million units per year. The most common car in the Soviet Union was the Lada, which was even exported to Western Europe, although other popular brands included GAZ, Moskvitch, and the more luxurious Volga. The import of western car brands was generally prohibited in later decades, although the Soviet automobile industry never came close satisfying the public demand, which created a series of obstacles and challenges when trying to buy a car in the USSR. Obtaining a car in the USSR In these decades, the Soviet government used a queue system for the distribution of automobiles. By the 1960s, citizens could only get a car by applying through their place of work, and distribution was sporadic and required background checks. Exceptions were made for party officials and union leaders, while nepotism and bribery were rife (although waiting lists in these cases could still take years). A popular joke in the west that waiting lists for cars in the Soviet Union were ten years long, and this was actually true in some cases; average waiting times were roughly four years in the 1960s, and six or seven years in the 1970s and 1980s. The demand for cars was so high that values actually rose over time, and there is anecdotal evidence of people selling 10 year old cars for double the original price, but it was very rare that people would part with their car. Additionally, daily usage was rare for most people, and Soviet infrastructure was at a much lower stage of development than the west; there were significantly fewer gas stations and safe parking places, parts could be difficult or costly to obtain, and theft was rampant. When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, there was an influx of foreign cars into post-Soviet markets, and the transition to market economies meant that private companies could increase production to meet the demand, however, the financial crises of the 1990s did hinder the automotive industry's development in post-Soviet states.

United States US: Road Passenger Transport: Passenger Cars data was reported at 5,286,161.874 Person-km mn in 2022. This records a decrease from the previous number of 5,586,348.601 Person-km mn for 2021. United States US: Road Passenger Transport: Passenger Cars data is updated yearly, averaging 4,298,629.006 Person-km mn from Dec 1970 (Median) to 2022, with 37 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 6,060,622.152 Person-km mn in 2019 and a record low of 2,817,796.000 Person-km mn in 1970. United States US: Road Passenger Transport: Passenger Cars data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.OECD.ITF: Passenger Transport by Mode of Transport: OECD Member: Annual. [STAT_CONC_DEF] Road passenger transport: any movement of passengers using a road vehicle on a given road network. National road passenger transport: road passenger transport between two places (a place of loading/embarkation and a place of unloading/disembarkation) located in the same country irrespective of the country in which the road motor vehicle is registered. It may involve transit through a second country. International road passenger transport: road passenger transport between a place of loading/embarkation or unloading/disembarkation in the declaring country and a place of loading/embarkation or unloading/disembarkation in another country. Such transport may involve transit through one or more additional countries. Road passenger: any person who makes a journey by a road vehicle. Drivers of passenger cars, excluding taxi drivers, are counted as passengers. Road passenger-kilometre: unit of measurement representing the transport of one passenger by road over one kilometre. [STAT_CONC_DEF] Since 2000, the definition of passenger car is determined by the size of the wheel base. In 2009, there was a change in passenger car occupancy factor, that creates a break in the series. Transport by buses and coaches by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). [COVERAGE] Data should include urban transport.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, vehicle production in the United States was significantly higher than production in the Soviet Union, despite the USSR having a higher population. Additionally, the production of car parts in the Soviet Union often failed to support the automotive industry and car owners in the way it did in the United States. Moreover, the USSR prioritized the production of larger vehicles in earlier decades, which is reflected in the number of tires produced. In terms of tires for passenger vehicles, U.S. production was over 30 times higher in 1970, and nine times higher in 1988. For larger vehicles, the gap between countries was much smaller compared to tires made for passenger vehicles, as well as the overall production of these vehicles.

The U.S. auto industry sold nearly ************* cars in 2024. That year, total car and light truck sales were approximately ************ in the United States. U.S. vehicle sales peaked in 2016 at roughly ************ units. Pandemic impact The COVID-19 pandemic deeply impacted the U.S. automotive market, accelerating the global automotive semiconductor shortage and leading to a drop in demand during the first months of 2020. However, as demand rebounded, new vehicle supply could not keep up with the market. U.S. inventory-to-sales ratio dropped to its lowest point in February 2022, as Russia's war on Ukraine lead to gasoline price hikes. During that same period, inflation also impacted new and used car prices, pricing many U.S. consumers out of a market with increasingly lower car stocks. Focus on fuel economy The U.S. auto industry had one of its worst years in 1982 when customers were beginning to feel the effects of the 1973 oil crisis and the energy crisis of 1979. Since light trucks would often be considered less fuel-efficient, cars accounted for about ** percent of light vehicle sales back then. Thanks to improved fuel economy for light trucks and cheaper gas prices, this picture had completely changed in 2020. That year, prices for Brent oil dropped to just over ** U.S. dollars per barrel. The decline occurred in tandem with lower gasoline prices, which came to about **** U.S. dollars per gallon in 2020 - and cars only accounted for less than one-fourth of light vehicle sales that year. Four years on, prices are dropping again, after being the highest on record since 1990 in 2022.

In 2023, road vehicles across the United States emitted about ******* tons of volatile organic compounds (VOC). Road vehicles – or highway vehicles – include road passenger vehicles, heavy-duty trucks and buses, and motorcycles. Annual emissions of VOC in the United States attributable to road transport have fallen considerably over the last 50 years due to increasingly stringent emissions standards within the transportation sector.

Road vehicles in the United States released 11,000 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) in 2023. Emission standards in the North American country have resulted in significant reductions in road transportation SO₂ emissions. Road vehicles include passenger vehicles, heavy-duty trucks and buses, and motorcycles.

In a country with the third-largest road network in the world, the total number of vehicles in fiscal year 2022 stood at 354 million. Road travel seemed to be the preferred choice in India with around 60 percent of the population who used personal or shared vehicles for commute. Not only public commute, the industrial movement of goods through roads has also been on the rise with nearly 2.9 billion metric tons per kilometer of freight transported through roads in the financial year 2020. Demographics The youth in the capital city of Delhi prefer to use public transport, and it is known to be one of the best public transport networks in the country. In the southern cities of Hyderabad and Chennai, however, personal two-wheelers were vehicles of choice for the young generation. This affection towards the easily navigable two-wheelers was reflected in the sales volume, with an approximate 18 million two-wheelers sold in the country in financial year 2024. Road accidents With the increase of motor bike sales in India, there was also a rise in the risks involved with them. With over 32.9 thousand road accidents by two-wheelers in 2022, each year, about three to five percent of the GDP of the country was invested in road accidents. Despite the downside, the number of motorcycles was likely to increase to make travelling within a mercilessly congested and not easily accessible network of roads within the large cities. Moreover, with continued urbanization and a consumer sector that continues to burgeon, the development of the automotive industry was expected to see continued growth.

In 1970, the Soviet Union produced more than three times the number of tractors and combines that were sold in the U.S.. Despite this, some estimates from this time (including official Soviet estimates) suggest that agricultural output per worker in the U.S. was five times higher than that of the USSR in the 1970s. The Soviet Union prioritized the production of larger vehicles over individual passenger cars, as it was believed that it would be more beneficial to the economy, but agricultural output failed to catch up with the west over the following two decades. In 1988, the difference between the two countries had increased to 11 Soviet tractors or combines produced for every one sold in the U.S..