2008 Canadian Vehicle Survey Update Report

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Chapter 3. Light vehicles

The light vehicle fleet includes vehicles weighing less than 4.5 tonnes and accounts for more than 96 percent of vehicles in Canada. These vehicles are primarily used for private purposes and include cars, station wagons, vans, sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and pickup trucks.

3.1 Light vehicle body type

Figure 12 highlights the changes in composition of the light vehicle fleet that occurred between 2000 and 2008. During this period, the share of vans, SUVs and pickup trucks increased substantially relative to the share of cars. Most notably, the number of SUVs more than doubled, and their share of the light vehicle fleet increased from 7 to 12 percent. Meanwhile, the share of cars decreased from 61 to 53 percent. Although the number of station wagons increased by nearly half over the period, its share of the total fleet remained at around 3 percent.

3.2 Passenger-kilometres

Passenger-kilometres (PKM) travelled in light vehicles were 475 billion in 2000 and peaked 13 at 497 billion PKM in 2005. By 2008, PKM had lowered to 477 billion, just 0.4 percent higher than in 2000. The trend in PKM can be partly related to that of vehicle-kilometres (VKM), which experienced a significant decrease from 2007 to 2008 (see Section 1.2).

Figure 13 shows a breakdown of PKM by vehicle body type, which reflects the changing composition of the light vehicle fleet. Since 2000, PKM from cars and station wagons generally decreased, while those from vans, SUVs and pickup trucks increased. In 2000, vans, SUVs and pickup trucks accounted for about 40 percent of total PKM, but by 2008 they accounted for approximately half. Note that between 2007 and 2008, this trend was reversed, with PKM from cars and station wagons increasing and PKM from vans, SUVs and light trucks decreasing.

The changes in composition of the light vehicle fleet have implications for fuel consumption because vans, SUVs and pickup trucks tend to consume more fuel than do cars and station wagons. In 2008, the average gasoline-powered car and station wagon consumed 8.8 L/100 km, while the average van, SUV and light truck consumed 12.8 L/100 km. As discussed in Section 2.3, the provinces that have higher fuel consumption rates also have a higher share of vans, SUVs and pickup trucks in their light vehicle fleet.

3.3 Vehicle-kilometres

VKM in the light vehicle fleet increased at an average annual rate of 0.5 percent between 2000 and 2008. This increase is well below the growth of light vehicles, which averaged 2.0 percent per year during this period.

Figure 14 shows that the average light vehicle in Canada was driven slightly more than 15 000 km in 2008, down from almost 17 000 km in 2000. During this same period, vehicle ownership increased from 1.43 to more than 1.47 vehicles per household. In other words, while the number of light vehicles in Canada increased since 2000, Canadians have relied on each vehicle to travel less distance. In addition, the occupancy rate of light vehicles decreased from 1.68 to 1.62 persons per vehicle over this period.

3.4 Age of light vehicles

Figure 15 shows Canada’s light vehicle fleet in 2005 and 2008 by vehicle age. Over this period, the number of vehicles in all age categories increased, except for vehicles between 10 and 13 years. The age distribution of light vehicles did not exhibit much change between 2005 and 2008, reflecting the steady growth rate of the vehicle fleet during this period. In 2008, one in five vehicles was two years old or younger and two thirds of vehicles were nine years old or younger. The average vehicle age was about seven years.

Vehicle age is an important determinant of fuel consumption. Newer vehicles tend to be more fuel efficient, although the increasing popularity of vans, SUVs and pickups may somewhat counteract fleet-wide improvements in fuel efficiency.

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