The average age of cars and light trucks on U.S. roads rose slightly to 11.5 years at the start of 2015, as the rate of growth slows because of the recovery of new-vehicle sales, consultant IHS Automotive said.

"Consumers are now being driven back to the showroom," Mark Seng, global aftermarket practice leader at IHS Automotive, said in a telephone interview. "It's a good story for U.S. vehicles and a great time for the automotive industry because of how strong sales are."

The average age in 2014 was 11.4 years. Vehicles are lasting longer due to better quality, but the pace of growth in the average age has tailed off. It's poised to climb to 11.6 years in 2016 and reach 11.7 years in 2018, IHS said Wednesday in a statement. They aged faster in the 2008-2013 period, when sales of new cars and light trucks fell in the recession and then began to rebound. Deliveries in 2015 are set to increase for an unprecedented sixth straight year.

-- Bloomberg News