The number of cars owned per household fell for the third straight year in fiscal 2008 as the global economic downturn pummeled auto demand, an industry association said Thursday.
The number of privately owned vehicles per household, including minivehicles, came to 1.086 units at the end of March, down 0.009 unit from a year earlier, according to data compiled by the Automobile Inspection & Registration Information Association.
Although the number of households increased 1.06 percent, the number of privately owned cars was only up by 0.23 percent to 57.411 million units, the association said.
Consumers also switched to minivehicles with lower prices and maintenance fees as households became hard-hit by the recession, it said.