A record 78.6 percent of households owned automobiles in 1999, up 1.7 percentage points over 1997, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said in a biennial survey Wednesday.
The percentage has continued to increase since the association began conducting the surveys in 1963. In 1997, the figure was 76.9 percent.
The survey of 7,200 households, which included people living alone, was conducted in August and September last year. Researchers found that the ratio of households with two or more cars increased 3.2 points over 1997 to 37.3 percent in 1999.
Among other results, researchers found that households keep each car for an average 5.9 years before replacing it, up 0.3 of a year, while automakers carry out full overhauls of a model every four to five years.
That means the introduction of new cars has been less effective in stimulating demand for new cars than in the past.
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