Ok I’m still trying to figure this out.
We went through an energy crisis in the 70/80s. Detroit started to build smaller underpowered cars and we got through the problem.
So Detroit says to itself,“Lets start building gas guzzlers again.” So they advertize the hell out of their guzzlers and people notice and start buying them.
Landslide.
Everyone wants one.
So instead of saying Oh Oh what if we don’t have enough gasoline again they just keep building them.
Meanwhile down in Texas Dubya’s buddies are sitting in their sauna’s sipping mint julips saying “Gee Life couldn’t be better”.
And no one sees this gasoline crunch coming???
If you don’t want to pay a lot for gas, then don’t buy an inefficient vehicle. If you don’t mind paying a lot for gas, then buy whatever vehicle you want. Of course Detroit’s going to make a lot of SUVs, if people buy them. What do you expect them to do?
You know Chronos not everyone can buy a new vehicle.
As a matter of fact when the family station wagon costs half the price of a house very few can really afford one. A goodly number of people are stuck with used vehicles. Do you think detroit hears that message?
Face it very few SUV owners really need one. It is a luxury they can afford but the next owner is sort of stuck. Out here in the country a 4X4 is really handy but I’m stuck paying more than its worth because Richy Rich’s wife feels safer in one and Detroit wants Richy’s money and puts a bunch of unneeded crap on it trying to impress Mrs Rich.
This probably has a name but I think of it as reverse trickle down economics.
Except that Detroit would be happy to build little tiny efficient cars if people would buy them.
Granted, I think the current SUV craze is the result of advertising, but it was simply the extension of where the public was going, anyway. Ever since the gas prices began falling (relative to inflation, not as pump price), it has been very difficult to get people to cram themselves into four-seaters. They have consistently bought larger and larger cars. The car companies have certainly fed into this cycle, but they really did not create it.
Plenty of small cars are out there, the Big 3 (2.5?) make the Saturn, Caviler, Focus, and Neon. They also made/sold smaller cars (Metro, Aspire, Festiva) but no one bought them. They lost money on all of them.
In fact, they probably lose money or break even on all the current subcompact cars. People (even with the threat of a fuel crunch) don’t want to buy them in high enough numbers to make a profit. Such is life. Toyota’s new Echo has been a dismal failure as well, the Mazda Protege, Nissan Sentra, and Honda Civic all have flat or negative sales. Maybe things will change with $2 gas, but I have my doubts.
The auto companies routinely sell “small cars” at a loss. This allows them to meet CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) more than anything.
Americans CAN NOT build quality, small cars. I’m ashamed to say such, as I am employed in the Big 2 (okay, Big 3 if you count Daimler).
It’s not a matter of bad engineering or poor quality workforce. It’s a matter of using the cheapest possible parts that you can get away with.
I ask that you do please support the US auto industry, so buy a mid-size or larger vehicle. If you must buy a sub-compact, do yourself a favor and buy a Madza (Ford!), or a U.S./Canada-built Toyota or Honda.
This in today’s paper…sales of vans, pickups & SUVs reaches a 20 year high, comprising almost 50% of all passenger vehicle sales. Average fuel economy is at its worst since 1980 (24.5 mpg.) And last week’s gas prices hit record highs in several states; and prices are expected to keep climbing.
Of course Detroit is going to keep making what people keep wanting!
What? Dude, what? Say that again? The Civic is one of the best selling, if not the best selling vehicle in the 18-24 market! For YEARS running now. The Civic sells like fuckin hotcakes.