Americans going Treehugger and Turning in Their SUV's
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.19.06
We have talked about this before, Remember Bob Lutz of GM saying about fuel prices- "Rich people don't care"? Well it turns out they do, and are trading in the Hummers for Hondas. And not only because of fuel prices- According to the New York Times, "For Janna Jensen, it was the dirty looks and nasty gestures from other drivers that finally persuaded her to give up the family's $55,000 Hummer H2. Her husband, Michael, meanwhile, was tired of the $300 monthly gasoline cost and the quality problems that began soon after they bought it." and "The higher cost of gasoline plays a big role, as it has for the last year of high oil prices. But wealthy buyers, who used to shrug off the expense, are shifting gears, as excessive energy consumption is becoming socially embarrassing." The celebrity campaigns, the T shirts and a little help from high gas prices have made a difference- Driving a big SUV is like smoking- it is becoming socially unacceptable. ::New York Times
UPDATE: John Laumer called this one in July
Seth Godin called this one 9 months ago in our interview:
Much of America identifies Prius drivers with Leonardo, Susan Sarandon and sniveling leftie treehuggers. Should we put a hybrid on the NASCAR track? How do we change the worldview of the majority of America?
SG: There’s no question that a souped up Prius would reach a certain group, but I don’t think that’s the best way to get Prius adoption. The prius tells a story “you’re smart”. There are a group of people that want their car to tell them that they’re smart, and the prius does this.
I think the way we kill the gas guzzlers is to tell the story: SUV = terrorism, SUV = unpatriotic, SUV = dead soldiers. Careful! It would backfire if the story was interpreted that you should get rid of your SUV If you’re a chicken (these colors don’t run!) Instead, the story needs to be based on a simple fact: if we get rid of all the SUVs, America becomes Oil Independent. Oil Independent is an achievable goal that people on both sides of the aisle should grab.
Read the ::Interview with Seth Godin
"Driving a big SUV is like smoking- it is becoming socially unacceptable."
I see no evidence of that at all. Sure, there's the occasional report of someone saying they're tired of getting "mean looks", but to think that that is changing behavior (instead of high fuel prices) is a fantasy.
Drop gas back to 89 cents and see how long this supposed "social stigma" lasts.
FUH2 works!
I think it depends on the area and the SUV. Using a Hummer to commute to work within a large metropolitan area is becoming socially unacceptable. Similarly, SUVs like the Escalade and those made by Lexus and Mercedes, seem a bit excessive. There are valid reasons to use SUVs, though I guess some people will even be annoyed by recreational uses.
Well I just saw an article about a highschool club that built a biodiesel sports car that is as fast as a porche and gets 50mpg...
I bet they could do a biodiesel or alt-fuel nascar. That would be an eye-opening project to fund.
I'd say hallalujah, but I've recently read that GM can't build the new cadillac escalades fast enough to keep up with demand.
I'm not sure about the Escalade. Sales have indeed increased a bit last month, but in general SUV sales have been down.
We posted about it recently.
in fact if you go to the article it says: "A case in point is the Cadillac Escalade. General Motors is offering thousands of dollars in incentives to clear out 2006 models. At the same time, dealers are beginning to get deliveries of the 2007 Escalade, part of a new family of S.U.V.'s that G.M. is counting on to reverse its market share slide."
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this really changes nothing. All it does is flood the used market with gas guzzling SUV's which will be driven by people in lower income brackets who couldn't previously afford them, but still consider them a symbol of wealth. More and more of my friends are picking up explorers and jeeps despite my protestations. I'm even mulling the purchase of an older Bronco simply because my little mitsu scrapes going down the crappy access roads that get my kayak to the river.
I need a pickup. That's the only reason you don't see my butt tooling around in a teeny treehugging car.
When they make a hybrid low-cost pickup, it'll be golden with all the people who drive the working SUVs (Fords, Chevys, Toyotas, not Caddies and Lexuses) and pickups out of necessity.
Some of us really need a SUV - I live on the side of a mountain and have two kids and am always picking up the kids friends. So I really need awd or 4 wheel drive and 3 rows of seats. I cringe everytime I need to fill my tank - it really hurts the budget, but what can I do?
Some minivans offer 4wd, more seating and more useful cargospace than the biggest SUVs.
I recently did a head-to-head comparison with the Chevy Tahoe and the Chevy Uplander van. Same seating, same power-to-weight ratio (the van is much lighter), 5-star crash safety, 30% more cargo room, 20% better MPG, better handling, quicker stopping, and AWD. Price? $15,000 - $20,000 less than the Tahoe.
I just checked, and the Toyota Sienna has similar features and price to the Uplander.
Also consider some of the new 'tallwagon' designs, such as the Subaru Tribeca and Ford Freestyle which have 3 rows of seats, AWD and get better milage than a truck-based SUV.
Yeah, thats all great, but the van looks like s**t. LOL