Vehicle miles traveled in March returns to pre-pandemic levels

If your service drive is getting pretty busy nowadays — and not just with completing reconditioning for your used inventory — new data compiled and shared by the Auto Care Association is perhaps a reason why.

According to data gathered by Auto Care Association director of market intelligence Mike Chung, vehicle miles traveled (VMT) for March surpassed 300 million miles. It’s the first time that’s happened since the summer of 2019 when June, July and August each had readings at that level or higher.

And to show the depth of the pandemic, Chung pointed out in a post by the association that VMT came in below 150 million miles last April when lockdowns and other pandemic-triggered restrictions came into play.

Along with vehicles in use, Chung pointed to other elements that could keep the service drive at your dealership busy for the foreseeable future.

“With production delays, as well as the possibility for higher-priced new vehicles, we may continue to see elevated demand for used vehicles. As many of these vehicles are likely to be out of warranty, that could bode well for the service side of the aftermarket,” Chung said.