Is the return of the U.S. auto boom already over? Expertsdisagree.

In a recently released report titled “Households Without aLight-duty Vehicle,” Michael Sivak, an analyst at the University ofMichigan's Transportation Research institute, wrote that thedecrease in households with vehicles in the last few years supportsthe hypothesis that motorization in the U.S. peaked during theprevious decade, according to a story in USA Today.

While other analysts agree there's a slump in vehicle ownership,they are less likely to see this as an anti-car shift and more asthe fallout from the Great Recession, the story notes.

According to a report from Experian Automotive cited in thestory, the number of vehicles on the road in mid-2013 was 247.9million, the highest since 2008. Experian said that slippedslightly to 246.9 million the third quarter of last year, but thatstill was up from the same quarter a year earlier.

Lacey Plache, chief economist at Edmunds.com, says the number ofvehicles on the road will continue to grow, especially as autoowners who nursed old vehicles through the Recession will purchasenew vehicles in the coming years.