Pre-pandemic model years still tops on Wisconsin roads

The most common cars displaying Wisconsin tags are those made just before the pandemic, and not from more recent years, analysis of registration data from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation shows.

The DOT publishes reports on the number of vehicles registered each year broken down by vehicle type and model year. Of cars currently registered in Wisconsin, 2017 is the most common model year. Totals for model years 2018 and 2019 declined, and were followed by a precipitous drop for 2020 models.

The figures comport with national data on automobile and light truck sales. Nationally, the sales of cars and pickup trucks rebounded sharply after COVID-related lockdowns before plummeting during the spring and summer of 2021. Only in March did the rate of sales reach pre-pandemic levels according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.  

For model years older than 2015, each successively older year sees a sharp fall-off in vehicles still registered in Wisconsin, except for the steeper dip in 2009 models — a dip that corresponds to that year’s plunge in new-vehicle sales. The year-by-year decline in vehicles registered levels off at about the age at which cars no longer must pass a biennial emissions test under the Wisconsin Vehicle Inspection Program.  

For vehicles older than the 1990s, the most common model year still on the road is 1969. Other notable years include 1979 and 1967. 

There were more than 9,933 vehicles from the 1940s still registered, and more than 10,000 from the 1930s. 

The Wisconsin DOT includes SUVs and vans in its “truck” category. The increasing prevalence of SUVs explains why the number of trucks appears so large.