Screw gas prices, analysts say Americans still want SUVs
This PR Newswire report is almost laughable in its exposition of a report in the upcoming issue of Newsweek that reveals 56% of Americans refuse to downsize their vehicles despite the high price of gas. The point of the report is that while consumers aren't downsizing, they are altering their tastes to include smaller SUVs and crossovers that are often built on car frames and use less thirsty V6 engines.
The article quotes an AutoPacific consultant as saying, We havent turned into wimps overnight, as if people who consider fuel efficiency when car shopping are showing a sign a weakness. It refers to the Hummer H3 as a modest SUV. Perhaps the most odd quote comes from a J.D. Power guy who says, For hybrids to have a double digit market share wed essentially have to run out of fossil fuel. Me thinks a worldwide lack of fossil fuel would put a dent in the sale of hybrids as well as SUVs.
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 6)
Ryan 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
#39
Then you just dont make sense, I'm really trying to figure ya out dude, but what is your argument? If you agree with me what's the issue dude? It sounds like you have just been into one too many road ragers with people that just HAPPENED to be in SUV's. What is it that you want from an SUV driver, blood? Gosh these SUV drivers don't know weather to piss or go blind with you.
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Ryan 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
#38
Great blog, good unbiased approach and making everyone from all sides listen. Refreshing...
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maximumforitude 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
40. Posted Oct 3, 2005, 1:36 PM ET by Joseph Willemssen
"Thank you Comrade Willemessen"
You're a Nazi.
Whee! This is fun!
Idiot.
Wait!
You're the one saying all those women who drive SUVs have penises!!!
You don't expect people to call you a nazi?!?
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mark 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
with all that i've read, all i can say is that the auto companies ONLY made the SUV's because they were too lazy to re-engineer something else. It was a repeat of the 70's and their land yachts.. Now they are hurting because gas prices went higher and people woke up realizing that $50-70 for a fill up was "excessive" well duh! If the big 3 don't wake up this will end them, because no one will buy the only products they make. But when has the big3 ever listened before?
And as far as all the liberal vs conservative comments.. I think newsweek is biased and controlled as a media outlet. Look at some of their polls, when they do the polls, it is biased.. It just goes to show how biased numbers can truly be..
Why listen to the media at all? Who cares for their "opinions" I sure don't.. and don't have to listen to them.. it's one difference between 2005 and Orwell's "1984" I don't have to listen..
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Ryan 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
#44
What does GM and Ford have to do with SUV's. Most auto makes make them.
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Ryan 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
#44
You could also look at it from a different point of view. Was HONDA, MERCEDES, PORSHE, VW,BMW, etc, actually the ones that were too lazy and did not get to meet SUV consumer in time? They scrambled to get SUV's on the market when GM and Ford already had a line of them. Just think about all those years of money VW lost because they did not have an SUV in the 90's of all the crappy moves GM and Ford have made, SUV's were one of there smartest, they made bank off there shit.
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DaveKCMO 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Either you believe that we each are responsible to assist with the goal of energy independence or you don't. Time will tell, but all the signs point to the remaining oil eventually costing more to extract than investing in technologies/sources we have yet to harness. For me, I'm placing my bets on a World War III over that last barrel, with China and India both holding nuclear bargaining chips, based on how slow the US has been to react. So make your choice fellas... either your obsessing over your penis/camper/boat/quintuplets/free choice today, or you're concerned about your children's future tour of duty.
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Ryan 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
#47
"either your obsessing over your penis/camper/boat/quintuplets/free choice today"
OR
your childres future tour of duty
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Richard 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
# 19: "If you're a city dweller, you don't really need a SUV."
See, this kind of attitude is what really raises my hackles. I could just as easily say to you:
"If you're a construction worker, you don't really need a personal computer. Just use a typewriter, it uses less electricity and frees up bandwidth for those who really work in computing."
Or how about this:
"If you're a economic analyst, you don't really need a german shepherd. Just get a chihuahua, they eat less food, emit less waste, free up valuable space in the dog park, and don't terrorize small dogs."
I'm not above name-calling. This kind of ideology is most inline with communism, where each receives according to their needs.
It would behoove the automakers to seek more fuel-efficient SUVs. SUVs sell because people want them. Some people need them to do their jobs, such as the case with computers, others want them because it is their personal choice, such as the case with large dogs.
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Joel A 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Huh. An opinion piece and not a very good one.
Everyone's gonna react differently to the increased gas prices. Personally I like certain SUVs for their roominess and height. Is that enough to counter the lower mpg? Yes...if I dropped certain discretionary items like a new suit every year. (I don't think Nordstrom will be affected.)
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Glenn Arlt 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Newsweek is obviously in the pockets of the big 2 1/2 because evidence I see as I go down the road says people are parking their SUVs and big pickups out with "for sale" signs on them along the road all the way back & forth to work from home.
As for "member size" I have to say that my wife (a proper British) sums it up best of all when she sees some bingo the evil clown (99% of the time, men or usually youthful men) going by with their exhaust pipes and/or neandethal music blasting - "big engine, little willy..."
As for the comments about how tall vehicles make people feel, I often wondered about why the British police "needed" all wheel drive and in a country which could scarcely afford to put it's police cars through their legally required annual MOT test after the vehicles hit 3 years old, why the "constabulary" (police) drove Range Rovers. It's obvious - "tall vehicle, little self-esteem" (sort of a variation of "big engine, little willy").
Says a lot about the general public in my country that I didn't want to admit, I guess.
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Glenn Arlt 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
"Are there morons who drive passenger cars? Of course. But big vehicles are many times used as tools of intimidation and other threats of violence. They're designed to be menacing on the outside and "safe" on the inside -- that's the whole psychology of design and marketing of those things. And that then manifests ALL THE TIME out in the world."
You said it very concisely, Joseph, as usual.
In the UK the government finally got so sick of it all (and the resulting deaths with pedestrians) that they outlawed what they called "bull bars" from the front of what we call SUVs (big add-on bars to make that "Macho" statement while driving down a tiny street, never having taken the 4x4 off road in their life).
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Robert Aitchison 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
BTW I'm 6'6" and OVER 300# (but at least I'm dieting) and my Mazda3 is the largest vehicle I've owned (unless you count the minivans my wife drives). Before that I had a Ford Focus and before that it was a Geo Metro.
The 3 offerrs plenty of interior space, in fact when me and my co workers go to lunch we take my car more often than not because it has the best interior room, now only one of these guys is (barely) under 6" and we are all well over 200#. For four full sized men the compact Mazda3 offers more than enough space, at least for short trips.
Though I'll admit that you notice the drain on power from >1000# of occupants when accelerating up an onramp.
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Ophrey 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
BF
"Can't wait to get my new 2007 Tahoe"
A prime example of the average american wanting somthing "BIG" to compensate for somthing small.
#26 Sully
"Funny how most people look past the fact that many sports cars get the same, if not worse, MPG than most SUVs, not to mention barge into lanes, take up parking spots, space on the road, tailgate, drive up fuel costs, poullute the environment and whatever else they fancy"
SUVS/Trucks are mass produced and sell more then any cars let alone sports cars, thus raise fuel cost more then specialty produced sports cars.
I very much dislike it when people buy "SUVS" especially when they dont exploit their strenths
SUVS" is there actually anything sporty about them??
What it comes down to is Americas appetite for overindulgence buying what they dont need.
As of now that attitude most americans exude is biting them in the ass, Do I feel sorry for people who drive trucks and "UVS" when its costing them $60+ to fill er up?
Ummmm NO!!! Whats even worse is that these same people are bitching unrelentlessly about the cost, talk about hypochrisy at its finest.
IDIOTS
Im laughing all the way to the bank driving my Mazda Protege.
"Maximumfortitude"
You seem to be the type of person that just talks for the hell of it.
Question is:
Do you actually have anything intelligent to say? rather then spewing out all this verbal diahrea, and turning what can be intelligent conversation into a flamefest.
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max 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Ophrey-are you JW posting under a different name, I reminded everyone that JW stated all SUV owners have small penises-including women?!?
Maybe I'm bored. Maybe I know how to spell "hypochrisy" correctly?
"I very much dislike it when people buy "SUVS" especially when they dont exploit their strenths
SUVS" is there actually anything sporty about them??
What it comes down to is Americas appetite for overindulgence buying what they dont need.
As of now that attitude most americans exude is biting them in the ass, Do I feel sorry for people who drive trucks and "UVS" when its costing them $60+ to fill er up?
Ummmm NO!!! Whats even worse is that these same people are bitching unrelentlessly about the cost, talk about hypochrisy at its finest."
You just posted THAT.
VERBAL DIAREEHA?!?
Yes without a doubt-you've got mad skills when it comes to that.
If you look at these page you'll note that I wasn't the one who said that SUV owners had problems with insecurities. I said SUV drivers had not cornered the market on foolishness.
Do you own an SUV?
Yes?!?
JW thinks you have a small penis.
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Mike 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Everyone is forgetting the other reason why SUV's are bad for the U.S.(besides the pollution,danger to pedestrians and the owners family by rollovers...etc).
There is a war on! By cutting back on the use of gasoline (and eventually U.S. presence in foreign oil fields) we reduce the amount of money that can be sent back to the middle east. Some of this money gets funneled into terrorist cells which then send it back to us as suicide bombers. U.S. citizens have the ultimate power of halting terrorism by playing the economic card. The U.S. can lead the way in developing alternate forms of power systems, but a president and staff that has deep ties to the oil industry has not given much funding to this area.People need to start thinking about their choices for transportation and how it affects their counry,the world and themselves.
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Robert Aitchison 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
One of the biggest reasons why SUVs and their owners evoke such anonymity in some people (myslef included), the vast majority (well over 90%) of SUVs simply don't get used for their supposed purpose, they don't tow, they don't go offroad (unless the dirt parking lot at the little league field counts as offroad), they don't carry more than 5 occupants, they don't haul. They simply don't do anything for their owners that a midsize car couldn't do every bit as well.
If you buy an SUV for the things it can do for you, great, more power to you, unfortuantely you tend to get lumped in with all the people who buy one because it makes them feel powerful or because they are trendy.
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J Zeke 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
SUV : an ancronym for anachronism?
1. Stupid Useless Vehicle
2. Silly Underused Vehicle
3. Simply Ultimate Vehicle
4. Stolen Ugly Vehicle
5. Sordid Use Vehicle
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Glenn Arlt 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
#55, Mike, I think the enemy is going to play their cards first. I just read at lunch time on the web news that Iran is going to play their "we'll stop pumping oil if you don't let us have nuclear bombs" card. And of course, when I go back online to look for a link, it is nowhere to be found - but of course, we don't have any censorship in the USA or on the web, do we?
Much as I hate war, I'd say that purposely crippling the world (not just US) economy because you are being held accountable by the UN (finally) essentially IS a declaration of war against the rest of the (western) world and specifically the United States.
As if that already hasn't happened, eh? 9/11 anyone?
I would not be at all surprised to see the USA attack Iran within six months.
Mike, you are correct, all the way, and this is the BEST reason (among many) to buy a vehicle large enough to do 95% of what you NEED instead of 99% of what you MIGHT WANT - and then consider renting the pickup at the DIY store to haul the big load one might haul home once a year.....
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JohnnyU 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Regarding all this Big 3 bashing: Name an auto company that does NOT make an SUV?... Having trouble? Um, Saab? Wrong, they make the 9-7. VW? Uh-uh, the Touareg (don't ask me how to pronounce it). Porsche? Errrr (buzzer), the Cayenne. And their Prius notwithstanding, Toyota makes some of the biggest muthas out there. They all make SUVs because SUVs are profitable and they are profitable because they are popular.
Why are SUVs popular? Because SUVs deliver what folks want, whether it's vanity or utility or all points between. Don't blame it on some kind of shadowy mind-control-driven irrationality. Vehicles are the 2nd biggest purchase most folks make and the goodly majority make well-considered decisions based on what they want and need. End of story.
But observers saying that gas prices ultimately shape what folks drive are as right as night following day. SUVs won't go the way of the Edsel (just having a little fun with the Big Guy ;-), but inexorably SUVs will be smaller and more fuel efficient in direct proportion to the price at the pump. The history of vehicle fuel economy after the oil shocks in the 1970s tracked in lockstep with the price of gasoline (which peaked in 1981 at about $3.10 in constant dollars or where we are now).
So don't blame the "Dinosaurs in Detroit" for the rise of SUVs. The family station wagon absolutely was driven into extinction by fuel economy standards on cars. But demand for full-service vehicles was not so easily extinguished. So manufacturers built vehicles that folks wanted on socalled light truck frames. With gas prices low, OF COURSE they would do so because that's what consumers clamored for. As so often happens, this was an unintended consequence of regulation that conflicts with consumer demand. Now consumer demand will force better efficiency, and just watch the market respond.
PS Audi doesn't make an SUV - but coming soon...
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