Americans are turning away from gas-guzzling sport-utility vehicles, luxury cars and pick-up trucks in favour of smaller, more fuel-efficient models, judging by May sales figures.
The trend has given a boost to Toyota, which reported record sales last month, up 14 per cent from a year earlier.
General Motors’ light vehicle sales rose by almost 10 per cent. But Ford Motor reported a 7 per cent decline, due mainly to a sharp cutback in low-margin sales to car-rental companies. Ford’s retail sales were 3 per cent lower, with demand weakening in the final week of the month.
My response is–thanks be to God! Read it all (subscription required).
It’s wonderful, and it should last as long as gas prices remain at current or higher levels.
However, if gas prices should fall for six months or more, demand for status-heavy gas hogs will go right back up, if history is any indicator.
I’ve been driving a Hybrid for nearly five years and would highly recommend it. As I move on to a new position in September I have another Hybrid on order, one that has even better performance and fuel efficiency than the ones my wife and I presently drive. I tend to get about 550-600 miles from a just 12.5 US Gallon tank, seldom do I spend more than $29-30 at the pump, and my carbon emissions are tiny. I would thoroughly recommend Hybrids to anyone.
I just bought my Honda Element 3 years ago, and can’t afford to buy anything new, now. I have one question, though. Instead of building a whole new car to sell us poor consumers, at $20K – $30K, isn’t there anyone who can come up with a way that I could retrofit my existing vehicle, economically, so that it could run on biodiesel? (I’m set against ethanol, now that I’ve considered the potential impact on air quality and food prices that will result from it.) The chassis, etc., on my Element are perfectly fine, and the configuration fits my lifestyle (there’s a reason why the back of the vehicle smells like fresh hay half the time.) Why the heck do we always have to buy a Whole New Thingamajig and throw the old one away entirely? Madness!
Because we live in a disposable society — disposable diapers, plates, napkins, cups, cars, VCR/DVD players and even lives.
Why reuse if you can just get a new one for half the price of getting the old one fixed?