Americans love to drive—about 3 trillion miles in a year. But following the COVID-19 outbreak, social distancing measures drastically cut the number of miles driven by car, with many people suddenly working from home and relying on e-commerce.
We believe behavioral changes around commuting and e-commerce are here to stay and will continue to shape how Americans use automobiles. A continued near-term decline in driving will have a major impact on automakers and other players in the automotive sector, including a drop in vehicle sales, closing of assembly plants, a decline in gasoline consumption and gas taxes, and a drop in aftermarket parts sales, to name a few.
