Nearly 1.4 million cars have been wrecked or destroyed by the double-hit hurricanes of Harvey and Irma!

Americans buy approximately 1.5 million new vehicles each and every month. In fact, in 2016 the U.S. had a record year of sales with a total of 17.6 million new cars and trucks sold!

Hurricanes Harvey and Irma are going to add to the sales total for 2017. It has been estimated that Harvey wrecked or destroyed as many as 1 million vehicles, and Irma destroyed another 400K. With a total destruction of vehicles at 1.4 million, that’s nearly a full month of additional vehicle sales coming to the automotive industry!

Hurricane Irma Hurricane Irma

Clearly, it’s a good time to be a car salesperson.

Here is a link on the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey:

Harvey Flood Damage via the LA Times Harvey Flood Damage via the LA Times

Here is a link on the damage caused by Hurricane Irma:

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Hurricanes are of course a terrible thing and our hearts go out to everyone that has suffered due to the damage caused by the storms. However, on a positive note, the increase in car sales could be very well timed for the Electric Vehicle (EV) industry which is expecting a 40% growth this year. The upside of Harvey and Irma is that it could finally give the EV industry the sales numbers they need to get the economy of scale in production to stay competitive in the long term. Check this great article out:

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Photo of a Tesla via Tesla.com Photo of a Tesla via Tesla.com

All that said, we can’t forget about the losses we as a country have suffered. Clearly there are some great cars that have been lost due to the hurricanes. No doubt, a number of great classic cars, some amazing BMW’s, a few Porsche 911’s, my beloved Jaguar XE, and many other fabulous cars will never again grace our roads with their presence! Let us all hold a moment of silence for their passing… So sad!

Porsche 911 via Porsche.com Porsche 911 via Porsche.com

On a happier note, if we do a little math based on population and the car sales figures… pi r square… carry the one… and we can safely say that Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have successfully rid the earth of at least 100,000 Toyota Prius’! Yahoo!

Toyota Prius flooded in Houston via AutoEvolution Toyota Prius flooded in Houston via AutoEvolution

So you see folks, there’s always a silver lining if you look hard enough! What other cars are you glad to see removed from the roads?

Keep driving my friends!