fewer SUV's???

lokey said:

I dunno if it's just wishful thinking but it seems like their are fewer
behemoth SUV's on the road. Could oil prices be affecting autos on the road
already? It's only been 1 year since oil made it's big move.

Not huge drop, mind you. But noticeably fewer.

http://snipurl.com/fg39 . . . or equivalent.

Ask about 25,000 GM employees . . . scheduled to lose their jobs.

Brutal.

lokey said:

I dunno if it's just wishful thinking but it seems like their are fewer
behemoth SUV's on the road. Could oil prices be affecting autos on the road
already? It's only been 1 year since oil made it's big move.

Not huge drop, mind you. But noticeably fewer.

I know some people at work who have more than one vehicle available, say
an SUV and a sedan. They used to drive the SUV everywhere, however as
the price goes up, they drive the sedan more. That would account for
some of the drop.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
When in trouble or in doubt,
run in circles, scream and shout.

I love the scene from TV's "The Simpson's" spoofing SUV's...

Ranier Wolfcastle (Arnie spoof) drives up in his SUV...

Marge: "Ooooo...what kind of mileage does it get?"
Ranier: "1 highway, 0 city."
Marge: <impressed cooing noise>

The SUV honeymoon's over folks... let your ego's deflate lest they pop.
(boilerplate: I know farmers & people in remote areas who SUV's DO make
sense for ... 😉

lokey said:

I dunno if it's just wishful thinking but it seems like their are fewer
behemoth SUV's on the road. Could oil prices be affecting autos on the road
already? It's only been 1 year since oil made it's big move.

Not huge drop, mind you. But noticeably fewer.

Yea now I am seeing alot of Hummers. I think everyone is preparing for
war.
Maggie

At Wed, 08 Jun 2005 16:27:34 GMT, message
<[email hidden]> was posted by Neil Brooks
<[email hidden]>, including some, all or none of the following:

Quoted message said:

Ask about 25,000 GM employees . . . scheduled to lose their jobs.

Over here BAT are about to close one of the largest cigarette
factories in Europe, with the loss of hundreds of jobs. Should I cry?

How about all the jobs lost in the armaments industry at the end of
the Cold War?

I feel sympathy for the workers, but the planet is the winner.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

Just zis Guy said:

I feel sympathy for the workers, but the planet is the winner.

I couldn't agree more . . . and I grew up in Detroit (Motor City).

Death and planetary decimation aren't particularly sustainable
business models.

lokey said:

I dunno if it's just wishful thinking but it seems like their are fewer
behemoth SUV's on the road.

If you live in a middle class or fairly affluent area, that might be true.
Those SUVs that have been replaced by more trendy "sport wagons" or
hybrids have not gone to the crusher--they're being driven by the sons and
daughters of the previous owners, or being sold to the less affluent.

My neighborhood is fairly trendy and upcoming and the surrounding area is
lower middle class and a bit blighted. The classic 'hood cars like Delta
88s, Buicks, Caddy sedans, and Caprices are being replaced by mid nineties
used gargantuan SUVs with *bling* rims.

At Wed, 08 Jun 2005 18:01:15 GMT, message
<[email hidden]> was posted by Neil Brooks
<[email hidden]>, including some, all or none of the following:

Quoted message said:

Death and planetary decimation aren't particularly sustainable
business models

Heh! I might just tuck that away in my .sig list somewhere...

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

lokey said:

I dunno if it's just wishful thinking but it seems like their are fewer
behemoth SUV's on the road. Could oil prices be affecting autos on the road
already? It's only been 1 year since oil made it's big move.

Not huge drop, mind you. But noticeably fewer.

--
'Hope is a pleasant acquaintance,
but an unsafe friend.' -thomas c haliburton

I don't see how it can be fewer-noticably or not. The big rise in gas
prices has contributed to a decline in sales of SUV's and larger pick
ups but that has only been over a very short time. Certainly SUV's have
not "left" the road at abnormal rates so even with slower sales the net
is still more SUV's on the road now than last year.

This is not a value laden position- only an observation from public
data.

In article <[email hidden]>,

lokey said:

I dunno if it's just wishful thinking but it seems like their are fewer
behemoth SUV's on the road. Could oil prices be affecting autos on the road
already? It's only been 1 year since oil made it's big move.

Not huge drop, mind you. But noticeably fewer.

Maybe your observations have to do with the transition from
(Canadian) winter to spring & summer? I've been seeing more
convertibles on the road lately. What I've /really/ been
seeing a lot of lately is Vespa-type scooters parked up
on the sidewalks, sometimes hogging space around public
bike racks.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

"Tom Keats" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
"lokey" <[email hidden]> writes:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Not huge drop, mind you. But noticeably fewer.

Maybe your observations have to do with the transition from
(Canadian) winter to spring & summer? I've been seeing more
convertibles on the road lately. What I've /really/ been
seeing a lot of lately is Vespa-type scooters parked up
on the sidewalks, sometimes hogging space around public
bike racks.

Possibly, though I don't recall a similar drop in past springs.

Maggie said:

lokey said:

I dunno if it's just wishful thinking but it seems like their are fewer
behemoth SUV's on the road. Could oil prices be affecting autos on the road
already? It's only been 1 year since oil made it's big move.

Not huge drop, mind you. But noticeably fewer.

Yea now I am seeing alot of Hummers. I think everyone is preparing for
war.

The H2 is the Tranny Hooker of SUV's.

..max

"Neil Brooks" wrote> Ask about 25,000 GM employees . . . scheduled to lose
their jobs.

Quoted message said:

Brutal.

Blame their employer for building wasteful, inefficient, dangerous vehicles
.. They got away with it for a while because of loopholes (that the auto
industry convinced our government to create) in the tax laws and the motor
vehicle safety laws that allow those things to be classified as "light
trucks", but as people become more aware of the limitations of SUVs their
popularity seems to be diminishing.
--
mark

"lokey" wrote ...

Quoted message said:

I dunno if it's just wishful thinking but it seems like their are fewer
behemoth SUV's on the road. Could oil prices be affecting autos on the

road

Quoted message said:

already? It's only been 1 year since oil made it's big move.

Not huge drop, mind you. But noticeably fewer.

Every news item I've seen on the subject for almost a year says that SUV
sales are not what they used to be. Either they are just not selling, or
they can only be sold at a massive discount. Auto dealers in my corner of
Colorado are constantly offering huge discounts on big SUVs in their
advertising, which suggests that interest in big gas guzzlers is dropping.
If that's happening in the ranching and mountain communities around me,
what's happening to SUV sales in urban areas?

With gasoline prices approaching 1/2 of European levels, it would make sense
for a multi-car family to use their smaller vehicles(s) more often, and save
the SUV for occasions when they really need that much cargo/passenger
capacity.
--
mark

Disclaimer!! This is not an argument pro or con SUVs or gas guzzling in
general.

But, I think a lot of the change in sales of SUVs and other types of
conservation will be short lived--as they have been in the US in every
other case of rapidly rising fuel prices. Folks adjust psychologicaly
and the economics of the rises - in the ranges we have see- just are
not that telling.

For example, around her regular unleaded now sell for ~$2.18. A year
ago it was ~$1.85. So the difference is ~$.33 call it $.35 / gal. I
drive a pretty normal amount ~1200 miles per month or 14,400 miles per
year. At 20 mpg this means I use ~720 gallons per year. At the
diffeerence of $.35 per gallon that mean that for the year I now am
paying ~$250 more for fuel. So, while I believ in not wasting fuel I
must say that $250 spread out over 52 weeks (less than $5 per week)
just isn't the level of economic disincentive to have any impact by
itself.

And if you go back three years when fuel was ~$1.30 per gal the
difference is still only ~$600 per year or ~$12 per week. With new
vehicles costing anywhere from $15 K to $45 K this really is not a
powerful economic driver to trade in a newish vehicle for one with
greater fuel efficiency..

But I do think that over the short run there is a big psychological
impact and that is why you see reduced sales of poor mileage vehicles.

gds said:

But, I think a lot of the change in sales of SUVs and other types of
conservation will be short lived--as they have been in the US in every
other case of rapidly rising fuel prices. Folks adjust psychologicaly
and the economics of the rises - in the ranges we have see- just are
not that telling.

I think it's deeper than simple pump prices. People look at the
mega-billions being allocated to finance the war and they are putting
two and two together. We cannot afford these vehicles.

Will said:

Quoted message said:

People look at the

Quoted message said:

mega-billions being allocated to finance the war and they are putting
two and two together. We cannot afford these vehicles.

I'd be willing to bet a whole lot that not many consumers are linking
their personal decision on which vehicle type to purchace with public
expenditures on the war.
As too being able to "afford" these vehicles. That is precisely the
type of decision that free markets make.
Right now there are lots of folks making deisions that do not maximize
fuel efficiency ( or many other things you and I might consider good).
And in free societies that is their right. You and I might not agree
with their decision--but it is their decision.

gds said:

I'd be willing to bet a whole lot that not many consumers are linking
their personal decision on which vehicle type to purchace with public
expenditures on the war.
As too being able to "afford" these vehicles. That is precisely the
type of decision that free markets make.
Right now there are lots of folks making deisions that do not maximize
fuel efficiency ( or many other things you and I might consider good).
And in free societies that is their right. You and I might not agree
with their decision--but it is their decision.

I dunno. I'm willing to give them more credit than perhaps Adam Smith
would. It also seems to me, and this is purely anecdotal, that I see
more of those magnetic ribbons with "Support our troops" on SUV's than
any other variety of vehicle. I believe these folks have made the
connection with petroleum resources and war.

Of course... what do I know? I'm riding the bike.

"gds" WROTE: I don't see how it can be fewer-noticably or not. (CLIP)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Read Dane Jackson's post.