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How long a car generation lasts

How many years a car generation stayed in production, by the decade it was launched. Generations still on sale are counted up to this year, so the latest figures are a lower bound.

How long a car generation lastsHow many years a car generation stayed in production, by the decade it was launched. Generations still on sale are counted up to this year, so the latest figures are a lower bound.051015201920s1930s1940s1950s1960s1970s1980s1990s2000s2010sMedian, yearsAverage, yearsHow long a car generation lastsHow many years a car generation stayed in production, by the decade it was launched. Generations still on sale are counted up to this year, so the latest figures are a lower bound.051015201920s1940s1960s1980s2000sMedian, yearsAverage, years

Longest single generations

  1. Volkswagen Beetle I66 years
  2. Hindustan Motors Ambassador I58 years
  3. Caterham Seven I54 years
  4. Renault 434 years
  5. Land Rover Defender I34 years
  6. Lotus Esprit I29 years
  7. Zastava Koral / Yugo29 years
  8. Nissan Patrol Y6128 years
  9. Trabant 601 I27 years
  10. Land Rover Range Rover Classic27 years
Based on 1,807 car generations from the 1CARS catalog. Exact numbers are in the table below.

Key findings

  • A car generation launched in the 1920s stayed in production for a median 8 years; for the 2010s it is 8 years.
  • 92 generations from the 2010s are still in production, so the real figure for that decade will end up higher.
  • Longest single generation: the Volkswagen Beetle I, 66 years (1938–2003).
  • The 2020s are not shown: most generations launched this decade are still on sale.

Data table

How long a car generation lasts
DecadeGenerationsMedian lengthAverage lengthLongestLongest: carStill in production
1920s 12 8 years 8.9 years 18 years Austin Seven 0
1930s 15 7 years 10.6 years 66 years Volkswagen Beetle I 0
1940s 12 4 years 7.8 years 24 years Morris Minor I 0
1950s 91 4 years 6.1 years 58 years Hindustan Motors Ambassador I 0
1960s 191 4 years 5.7 years 34 years Renault 4 0
1970s 181 5 years 7 years 54 years Caterham Seven I 1
1980s 133 7 years 8 years 34 years Land Rover Defender I 0
1990s 234 7 years 7.7 years 28 years Nissan Patrol Y61 0
2000s 408 8 years 8 years 24 years UAZ Hunter 3
2010s 530 8 years 7.8 years 16 years Chevrolet Cobalt II 92

Methodology

Production years are counted inclusively (a generation built 2011–2017 counts as 7 years). Generations still in production are counted up to the current year. Only decades that have ended are shown, because most generations launched this decade are still on sale.

Passenger cars only: trucks, buses and vans are excluded (the same rule as our rankings).

Decades with fewer than 8 generations are not shown; the table gives the number of generations behind every figure.

Values come from the 1CARS catalog. Part of the specifications are extracted from our articles and not yet checked by an editor; obvious outliers are excluded. Figures describe the cars in our catalog, not the whole market.

Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: credit “1CARS” and link to this page. License terms.

How we collect and check data