Autoblog

Forget soccer moms, China has tiger moms driving the auto market

Jonathon Ramsey — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 08:58:00 EST

China's middle class is predicted to mint up to 500 million new bourgeois comrades in the next 15 years, and not only will that mean new car owners, but more of those owners will be women. Along with rising incomes, that has put The Middle Kingdom into an SUV-buying boom driven by "tiger moms," similar to the splurge that happened here in the 1990s but with big, striped cats replacing black-spotted white balls.

The trend has enough force already that SUV sales are expected to make up for other slumping segments, which is just about all of them. In addition to mothers wanting an SUV to haul their lone kid around there are other cultural factors at play, one being the fact that car ownership has only recently become a practical aspiration and having an SUV is a way to make a big splash in the new pool.

Carmakers obviously have no intention of denying the Chinese their desires, with Daimler declaring this "the year of the SUV." It's probably no coincidence that Lamborghini showed off its Jota in Geneva and its Urus in Beijing, nor that every other automaker showed up to the Beijing Motor Show with plenty of high-riding hardware (see above). It probably is a coincidence that carmakers dreamed of selling squillions of SUVs just as Earth Day ended.

Forget soccer moms, China has tiger moms driving the auto market originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 25 Apr 2012 08:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Facing high gas prices, dealers get cautious with big SUVs

Sebastian Blanco — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 08:30:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, SUV, Crossover

The average gas price in the U.S. is over $3 right now, and there's a good chance it'll go higher before too long. What do you do in this situation if you're a car dealer with a lot full of SUVs and big crossovers? You start being cautious.

That's the takeaway point from an Automotive News article, with the key quote coming from a New York Ford dealer, who told the industry publication:

SUVs are still important in this area, but people are downsizing to more fuel efficient SUVs instead. We are still stocking with the idea that it may go either way. Hoping for the best, but prepared for anything.

For the moment, gas prices aren't high enough to make people panic and try to offload their gas hogs the way we saw in 2008, but Kelley Blue Book analyst Alec Gutierrez told Automotive News that SUV sales could drop "dramatically" once gas reaches $3.50 or $4 a gallon, saying, "The days where a dealer could just go to auction and stock up on a bunch of SUVs and hold them for 40 or 60 days are over."

The last time gas jumped up to panic levels was in 2008. That's when Joe Crawford took the picture that illustrates this post. In the accompanying Flickr caption, he writes:

So a local (Culver City) car dealer started storing cars on the top of our parking garage. I always park on the roof, so anytime I am up there I see the cars. I have taken to think of these cars as an economic indicator. They all seem to be SUV vehicles. I wonder about why they are up there, and why there seems to be more every week. I suspect the fact that they're stored here has something to do with the price of gas.

We suspect he's right, and we can't imagine there are dealers out there who want to have to go through a process like that again.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req. | Image: Joe Crawford - C.C. 2.0]

Report: Facing high gas prices, dealers get cautious with big SUVs originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 30 Dec 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Large SUV segment outpacing small car sales growth in America

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:59:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, Budget, SUV, Crossover

2011 Infiniti QX56 - Click above for high-res image gallery

Finally, after years and years of stagnation and painfully slow sales, small cars are starting to take a foothold in the United States. Or are they? While conventional wisdom makes us believe that Americans are ready to take the downsizing plunge in the face of - or at least the threat of - high fuel prices and environmental concerns (we're all still watching the Gulf Coast, right?), it seems that reality may once again set us straight.

Automotive sales watchdog Autodata has found that the gas-swilling large SUV segment is growing at a faster pace than the America's small car segment. Like statistics? Here we go: With a 19-percent jump over the first six months of 2010, large SUV sales have outpaced small cars (14 percent). Critically, they've also outpaced the overall market (17 percent).

Now, before we get our feathers riled up too much, realize that sales of large SUVs still lag way behind small cars - 974,000 to 121,000 through the first half of the year. Further, large crossovers like the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, Ford Flex, GMC Acadia and Lincoln MKT are included in those figures right alongside traditional behemoths like the Chevy Tahoe, Ford Expedition, Infiniti QX56 and Toyota Sequoia.

We also expect that small car sales will continue to climb with new models coming to market, such as the upcoming Ford Fiesta, Mazda2 and Hyundai's Accent and Elantra. That said, there's always going to be a demand for large and powerful SUVs that can haul people and stuff while towing a boat or camper in cool, air-conditioned comfort, and automakers will be only too happy to provide the thick-margined vehicles for their consumption. For better or for worse.

Gallery: First Drive: 2011 Infiniti QX56

[Source: USA Today via Kicking Tires]

Report: Large SUV segment outpacing small car sales growth in America originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cheap Gas = Trucks to outsell cars again this month

Dan Roth — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 09:58:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, SUV, Truck, Green, Earnings/Financials

It's the same old story, people say one thing, yet do another. The price of fuel has fallen to the point that it's no longer financially ruinous to fill the tank on a full-size pickup, so looks like truck sales will eclipse cars in December. Despite the public's rhetoric about smaller and more fuel efficient vehicles, the populous has seemingly gone back for another feed at the truck trough. Winter tends to remind people of the things that SUVs and trucks are good for, like plowing and effortless going in inclement conditions while also carrying a passel of rugrats and their associated detritus. Not only are truck sales expected to be up, Hybrids will be the flip side of the trend, underperforming compared to what everyone might have thought a mere four months ago. It might end well for the automakers, with higher profit trucks bouncing back, though the investment in green and hybrid technology will go wasted if the marketplace ignores it, a real danger with fuel prices easing... for the time being. Hat tip to reader "Throwback"

[Source: CNN, Photo: yammeringmagpie]

Cheap Gas = Trucks to outsell cars again this month originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 Dec 2008 09:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chrysler plans to idle minivan plant in St. Louis

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:01:00 EST

Filed under: Trends, Minivan/Van, SUV, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Plants/Manufacturing, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Earnings/Financials

Click above high-res gallery of the 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT

Now that General Motors and Ford have completely abandoned the minivan market for good, the American originator of the species faces only Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Kia and soon Volkswagen as manufacturers that also offer competitive choices. Perhaps you'd think that Chrysler would be benefiting as the only domestic automaker currently playing in the segment, but it seems that sales are down this year by 13 percent for the Chrysler Town and Country while the Dodge Grand Caravan is down an alarming 35 percent. High gas prices are the obvious reason why the minivan market is seeing such a harsh downward trend, and likely the culprit behind Chrysler's impending move to idle its St. Louis South minivan plant as early as December, which would leave some 1,500 employees jobless.

Utility vehicles have been the biggest gas-price casualties, and slow sales are said to be forcing the Jefferson Avenue assembly plant in Detroit where the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Commander are assembled and the Toledo, Ohio North assembly plant which builds the Jeep Liberty and Dodge Nitro into extended shut-downs, as well.

Gallery: 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Chrysler plans to idle minivan plant in St. Louis originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GM postpones redesign of trucks, SUVs

Chris Shunk — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:56:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, SUV, Truck, Green, GM

If you've been holding your breath in anticipation of General Motors redesigning its trucks and SUVs, you're probably going to pass out so start breathing again. According to reports, it's gonna be a while. GM has announced that it's postponed any planned redesigns of its pickups and SUVs to a future date sometime beyond their previously planned 2012 redesigns. What'll it do with the extra time and money? Pouring over its entire product lineup to provide the most fuel efficient vehicles possible to a demanding public. The General announced the move in response to this drastic consumer shift away from trucks and SUVs.

GM isn't the only automaker to make product decisions based on the current vehicle market, as Toyota, Honda, Ford and others have all announced that they are shifting their lineups to include more fuel efficient vehicles. If you haven't noticed, $4-a-gallon gasoline seems to have changed the auto industry in a big way overnight. Thanks for the tip, Mike!

[Source: Yahoo]

GM postpones redesign of trucks, SUVs originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Americans CRaVe the CR-V, replaces Ford Explorer as best-selling ute in U.S.

Sam Abuelsamid — Sun, 13 May 2007 13:29:00 EST

Filed under: SUV, Honda, Toyota

It looks like the age of the traditional body-on-frame SUV is coming to a close for most mainstream customers. While there will continue to be a market for big SUVs like the Tahoe and Expedition for customers who actually need to haul or tow stuff, many customers in the high volume mid-sized segment are realizing they can get by with something a little smaller and lot more fuel efficient.

The Ford Explorer dominated SUV sales charts throughout the 1990s and into the first part of this decade with sales of 445,157 in 2000. In the last couple of years, however, Explorer sales have tanked seeing it drop from first to fourth on the sales charts. Last year ,sales dipped to 179, 229 and the freefall shows no signs of letting up. The numbers are down another twenty-three percent so far this year.

On the flipside, sales of the redesigned Honda CR-V are up forty-two percent so far this year and it has jumped to the number one spot on the chart followed by the Toyota RAV-4 and Ford Escape, with the new Ford Edge coming on strong as well. The CR-V is doing so well that Honda is having to consider how to increase volume to meet the demand. For the first time, the automaker has started importing extra units from Japan to supplement the main production facility in East Liberty Ohio. Ford has already announced plans to move the Explorer to a unit-body crossover platform, which can't happen soon enough. The only problem will be finding a place to fit into a lineup already filled with the Escape, Edge, Flex and Taurus X.

[Source: Bloomberg]

Americans CRaVe the CR-V, replaces Ford Explorer as best-selling ute in U.S. originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 13 May 2007 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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