"Shallow" consumers returning to gas guzzlers
Cheaper gas and incentives help sustain SUV sales“The data over the last few months show consumers are shallow — they’ll go and buy a large SUV when gas prices go down,” states Jesse Toprak, executive director of industry analysis for Edmunds.com. “So there will always be those consumers that like these vehicles, whether it’s because of their style or size, and they’ll be lured into buying them when incentives are high or gas prices slide.”
With gas prices hot on the biggest weekly drop ever and a number of energy analysts now predicting $2.00 gas by next year, it'll be interesting to see just how shallow consumers can become.
Labels: gas prices
posted by Dahcredyns at
4:00 AM
15 Comments:
This is precisely what I was afraid of and also why I did not want automakers to wait until 2010! If gas prices stay low, then what incentive will the automakers have for manufacturing alt energy vehicles? Especially if the fickle public reverts to its gas guzzling ways? This is obviously not good for our cause!
It is frustrating to me that car makers do not immediately produce the plug in electric vehicles now. For example, the Chevy Volt could be rolled out TODAY with either Lead Acid or NiMH batteries. Panasonic makes a great lead acid battery that was used in the EV1 giving it 100 miles range. A 40 mile EV lead acid pack in a Volt would not weigh much more than the Li ion pack they are currently using.
So by waiting until 2010, the automakers have given themselves lots of wiggle room and maybe even an excuse to sabotage the EV's and PHEV's!
There are some out there whom believe that America has crossed a threshold and that we'll never return to the gas-guzzling craziness of the '90s, for instance.
I think that will be true to some extent. Instead of the Ford Expedition, maybe consumers will buy a Flex or Ford Escape. Sure, that's a gain in fuel economy, but not that much.
Additionally, interest in cheaper hybrid cars, such as the Prius or Insight, might remain robust, but pricing will have to come down.
And that downward pricing pressure doesn't bode well for plug-in hybrids and EVs.
Ultimately, I don't think that cheaper gas will kill the move to electrification, but I do think it will slow it even further.
History repeats itself. Remember the gas shortages of the 70s? Have we learned nothing!
The Sheep are returning to graze.
I hope this means I'll be able to sell my truck now. It's been for sale for two years! It's maddening to be trying so hard to do the right thing, but not being able to afford it! Oh well, with the economy the way it is, I wouldn't be able to get a loan for the new Instinct anyway...
the used market is pretty dead. this move is toward new guzzlers with lots of incentives.
maybe if gas drops below $2.00 and the economy levels off, you'll have a better chance.
would you still sell if gas prices dropped below $2.00?
Jabroni:
As I mentioned in Dahc's post after this one, we are dealing with the dumbest consumers in the world...the American public...and the dumbness is not limited to just consumerism. They're stupid all-around.
This goes back to my argument of who's to blame? I think both the automakers and the consumers. Automakers for making such crap and consumers for buying them.
If you want to see these retards in action, just come to La Canada, CA...and sit on a bench and watch the dumb soccer moms come in and out of Trader Joes with their Escalades and Range Rovers. It's a sight to see.
Automakers are not interested in reducing their carbon footprint, or increasing their environmentally responsible roles...they simply don't care. Nor to people..people simply do not care at all.
This country is going to seld-destruct itself with the stupidity it exhumes.
Now that economic times are tough, the real colors of people are coming out...the tensions are going to rise...the ignorant rednecks are gaining momentum with their hatred and bigotry...we're going to see some serious social issues rise up if Obama wins...and we are going to see an upheaval if Obama is assassinated.
People's personal, political, and economic mentalities can be gaged directly by what they buy, when they buy, and how they buy.
It is so easy to sway people here...it's like a dog being fed food after days of not eating. It'll sit, stand, spin, whatever you ask it to.
Jwolfe...
Do the world a favor...take your truck out of commission and do a tax write-off. You'll do the world a big favor by doing so.
That's one thing I can't understand about people who want to buy hybrids while selling their regular cars. It doesn't benefit anyone to buy a hybrid UNLESS you take your current car completely out of commission. Especially if the car is 5+ years old where emissions-wise it's very out-dated.
GM is closing SUV plants 2 years ahead of schedule so sales must not be that great:
SUV Deathwatch: GM Shuts Down More Plants, Sheds Thousands of Jobs | SolveClimate.com
zendude-
the key word was "returning".
i don't think we'll ever return to the 90's.
still, oil took a big hit today, and gas prices keep dropping.
if we hit $2.00 for a sustainable period of time, i have no doubt that their will be a serious uptick in guzzler sales. it'll never be what it was before, but the longer gas prices stay below $3.00 the shallower consumers will become. and, the more gas prices drop below $3.00, the more shallow customers we'll find.
i agree that the threshold on guzzler madness has been elevated, but it don't think the bar is that high just yet.
noz, boy aren't you in a good mood.
I agree that people are basically ignorant and uninformed and PREFER to be that way, which explains their buying behavior. This is mostly dictated by relentless advertising and other tactics used by auto companies who are guilty as sin, in my opinion.
I am not worried as much about the gas guzzler return as I am about auto maker apathy. If we see 2.00 per gallon gasoline and it hangs around for a while, what will the auto makers do? How will they respond?
BTW - $2.59 in Ohio today.
Here is a good list of electric and PHEV's that are here or coming soon.
http://venturebeat.com/2008/01/10/27-electric-cars-companies-ready-to-take-over-the-road/
wow. $2.59. i haven't been to the gas station in a while, and i'm sure it's not that low in California. still, i might have sticker shock if see less than $3.00 gas.
Dahc...
Indeed...I am!
Seriously....I'm pissed and tired of this crap.
I wish there was a way to just distance ourselves from these yahoos. If they want to kill each other trying whatever they do, let them....just on another planet.
I hear you noz. unfortunately, we're all stuck with each other. so, somehow, we have to figure out a way to make the best of it.
If I could get my shoulders and legs into something that's hybrid (other than the Tahoe or Escalade), I'd gladly do so. If Ford made a hybrid version of my current car, an Expedition, I'd buy it immediately.
Fact is, I'd never get one leg inside most of these cars. I guess I'll keep saving for the Tahoe, but when someone comes out with a truck or SUV hybrid in the sub-40k range, they'll have a surefire hit.
And quit ripping on the soccer moms in La Canada, CA.
They deserve to be ripped on....they epitomize what's wrong with this society.
And you're comparing yourself to the average soccermom? Who's in an 8 passenger Expedition with her stupid cell phone glued to her ear?
Screw em.
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