Posted on 12/30/2008 7:53:08 PM PST by Libloather
Big is back: As pump prices plunge, SUV sales surge
Buyers with short memories when it comes to gas prices find hot deals on big vehicles.
By Adrianne Jeffries | Special to the Daily Press
December 30, 2008
NEWPORT NEWS - It looks like the Highlander is in and the Prius is out — for now at least.
Trucks and sport utility vehicles will outsell cars for the first time since February, according to a December report by Edmunds.com, which tracks industry statistics.
"Despite all the public discussion of fuel efficiency, SUVs and trucks are the industry's biggest sellers right now as a remarkable number of buyers seem to be compelled by three factors: great deals, low gas prices and winter weather," said Michelle Krebs of AutoObserver.com, a division of Edmunds.com, in a prepared statement.
"It was this summer that customers were concerned about the gas mileage. It hasn't been a topic of conversation lately," said Dave Lawson, the general sales manager at Pomoco Chrysler Jeep Dodge in Newport News. The majority of Pomoco's inventory is SUVs, and its best-selling models are minivans.
Lawson said sales at the dealership are up, although they are still below last year's numbers. Low gas prices and increased consumer confidence are part of the reason, he said. But the real draw for customers is prices.
**SNIP**
Lawson said discounts are biggest for 2008 models like the Dodge Ram 2500, which is currently marked down $12,000.
**SNIP**
Toyota has already slowed production of the industry's flagship hybrid vehicle, the Prius, due to lack of interest and a growing inventory of the once best-selling model, Edmunds.com reported.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailypress.com ...
Depends on what ole Ben does to the USD and if we have a depression or not.
Funny you mention that as people who drive an SUV are 1) More likely to die in a wreck (rollover) and 2) more likely to kill someone they hit themselves (impact).
My wife needed her's when she bought it new in '05, she needed it for 3 and a half years and now doesn't. Try selling a used one. It's cheaper for her to keep driving it while it's still in good shape, instead of buying a new car.
No arguments there—usually worth driving a new car 7-10 years before trading it in (assuming its running fine).
I just bought a 5.4L 4X4 Ford Expedition today... hope the gas prices stay down. :-)
That is called wishful thinking. The probability that demand will stay at current levels over the expected life of the vehicle (7-10 yrs) is small. Please just have the honesty if and when prices get back to the $3-4/gal level to graciously accept the consequences of your decision.
What business is it of yours what I drive and why I drive it. I also heat my house with oil. Guess me and the kids could huddle around a whale oil lamp for warmth. I am shocked at how many people are so easily slipping into socialism these days.
YASSIR! Now that's what I'm talking about! GREAT vehicle. My ride is a 98 Durango and I wouldn't trade it for anything except maybe a RAM. "Canyonero" delivers 12 mpg city and 20 mpg highway with just over 120k happy, trouble free miles.
A friend of mine recently was arguing with me claiming the D was too big and something nobody needs. Cut him off when I asked him how many 80 pound bags of top soil or how many loads of lumber he's hauled in his bubble car.
While I don't plan on getting rid of the D anytime soon my nesxt vehicle is gonna be a RAM 2500, GMC Sierra or F-250 double cab.
prisoner6
“Big SUV’s are a waste for most people with or without high gas prices. It’s the old “mine is bigger” battle and I’ve grown tired of it.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
So sorry, you are tired of it.
Please provide a list of acceptable cars for me to drive. (There are 9 in my family and sometimes we like to travel together and perhaps haul the dogs and get groceries.)
It’s a free country. Buy whatever you want to drive. Just don’t come whining to me if you don’t like paying for the gas for it when prices do eventually come back up.
Personal freedom, personal responsibility.
As for me, with four kids I have a minivan that will seat all of us plus one more if needed, and a small (not subcompact, but not full size) that gets 35 mpg highway for my wife to drive 30 miles to work daily. I drive the van to work at night here in town. Gas is 1.30ish here in SW MO.
The people who drive Prius' and other fuel-efficient vehicles are the ones who are sticking it to the Saudis and other terrorist-supporting governments by reducing the flow of Petrodollars.
No real way to get around this central fact.
As for increased drilling on our own territory, that really doesn't make much economic sense with oil at $40/barrel. Very few of our domestic oil supplies are profitable at that price.
Problem is that many people with ideas like yours end up taking away personal freedom and responsibility.
I won’t come whining to you about gas prices like we know they will.
how bout them smart cars?
The cost in oil to produce hybrids offsets much of the fuel savings of the slightly higher milage. Hybrids are a lose-lose.
How so? Why would it require more oil to produce a hybrid versus a standard vehicle?
She just joined in November of this year. Perhaps she thought she was joining DU.
Yup there was just a story about a guy last week whose small saturn or chevy car got stuck and he died in the cold weather.
A small SUV is still better than a car. You can get better mileage than a big SUV and you still have more weight and height and survivability in a crash than most cars.
Honda produces the “cleanest automobile on the planet” according to the EPA and Car & Driver, etc., etc., etc.
Less than 1000 were sold in all of 2006, less than 600 were sold in 2007.
Civic GX CNG.
I would vote, in a second, to mandate that CNG be sold side by side with gasoline. This, in itself, would cause a dramatic surge in our economy.
And Alaska would have about 250k more residents. :O)
In gas powered Cars:
* Reduce carbon monoxide emissions 90%-97%
* Reduce carbon dioxide emissions 25%
* Reduce nitrogen oxide emissions 35%-60%
* Potentially reduce non-methane hydrocarbon emissions 50%-75%
* Emit fewer toxic and carcinogenic pollutants
* Emit little or no particulate matter
* Eliminate evaporative emissions
In Diesel powered heavy Trucks:
* Produce half the particulate matter of average diesel vehicles
* Significantly reduce carbon monoxide emissions
* Reduce nitrogen oxide and volatile organic hydrocarbon emissions by 50% or more
* Potentially reduce carbon dioxide emissions 25% depending on the source of the natural gas
* Drastically reduce toxic and carcinogenic pollutants
* Increase methane emissions (not a benefit)
http://www.nrel.gov/vehiclesandfuels/fleettest/pdfs/31227.pdf
http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/pdfs/32863.pdf
PROVEN!
You can retrofit your own cars/trucks. You can run either/or both.
It’s 20-40% less expensive than gas, comparable fuel economy, about 5% less powerful than gas powered, can be fueled at home by your Natural Gas.
It would drive the “Global warming-Greenhouse Gas greenies” crazy!
2 trucks were sold nationwide in December, as opposed to only one car.
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