Fairweather consumerism
Did I ever mention that I hate SUV's? Not only are many of them unsafe (both for the drivers and others around you), but you can't see around the darn things on the road and in parking lots. Oh yeah, and they use a ton of gas.
It seems that the rest of America is finally starting to agree with me. Although it's more likely because of the third reason than any of the others.
With higher prices at the pump sinking in as something more than a blip on the radar, and with several new passenger car models winning back customers, America's love affair with S.U.V.'s is taking a breather.
For the first time in 14 years, the passenger car is actually taking sales back at the expense of S.U.V.'s and other trucks, according to an analysis of auto sales data. The renewed interest in cars over the first four months of the year, while modest, is a pause in what has been the trend in auto sales for the last decade and a half: the soaring growth of the sport utility vehicle as America's preferred family vehicle.
The popularity of SUV's never made sense to me from a practical standpoint. You're hardly ever going to make use of their off-road capabilities (many of them pretty much suck off-road anyway for that very reason) and they've never been as safe as everyone used to think they were. All they seem to do is kill other people on the road, rob your wallet of gas money, and rob the world of its gas all at the same time. Of course, Americans and their "we're-the-world's-superpower-hence-it's-okay-to-drain-the-rest-of-the
-world-of-its-resources" mindset would make the SUV the logical choice for a popular automobile.
What bothers me the most, though, is that this trend is based solely on a spike in gas prices and not a reformed consciousness on the part of American consumers. It is very clear to me that many would still choose to buy an SUV and expend all of that gas if it was convenient and affordable.
It seems that the rest of America is finally starting to agree with me. Although it's more likely because of the third reason than any of the others.
With higher prices at the pump sinking in as something more than a blip on the radar, and with several new passenger car models winning back customers, America's love affair with S.U.V.'s is taking a breather.
For the first time in 14 years, the passenger car is actually taking sales back at the expense of S.U.V.'s and other trucks, according to an analysis of auto sales data. The renewed interest in cars over the first four months of the year, while modest, is a pause in what has been the trend in auto sales for the last decade and a half: the soaring growth of the sport utility vehicle as America's preferred family vehicle.
The popularity of SUV's never made sense to me from a practical standpoint. You're hardly ever going to make use of their off-road capabilities (many of them pretty much suck off-road anyway for that very reason) and they've never been as safe as everyone used to think they were. All they seem to do is kill other people on the road, rob your wallet of gas money, and rob the world of its gas all at the same time. Of course, Americans and their "we're-the-world's-superpower-hence-it's-okay-to-drain-the-rest-of-the
-world-of-its-resources" mindset would make the SUV the logical choice for a popular automobile.
What bothers me the most, though, is that this trend is based solely on a spike in gas prices and not a reformed consciousness on the part of American consumers. It is very clear to me that many would still choose to buy an SUV and expend all of that gas if it was convenient and affordable.
"I just bought a Ford pickup truck and I wish I wouldn't have bought the darn thing," said Mark House, 45, who was shopping Friday at a Toyota dealership in the Toledo, Ohio, area with his daughter, Monika, 19, who said she wanted a car so she could keep the cost of fill-ups down.
"If gas prices were cheaper, then I'd look into an S.U.V.," she said. "It's the gas."
Yeah, damn straight, to hell with the environment and all that!
Shame.
posted by Remz Pokorny @ 11:44 AM
2 Comments:
At 7:31 PM,
Robert Taylor said…
I seem to remember you with a subaru. Was it all-wheel drive? And if so, did that affect it's gas-usage? Here in California, I pay 60 dollars minimum to fill up my gas tank.
At 8:49 PM,
Remz Pokorny said…
no, my subaru was an old-school front wheel drive. it got good gas mileage, but we sold it recently so our insurance would go down, plus i don't need it for college. now we drive a passat and an accord...both fairly good on gas.
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