Soaring gas prices have turned the steady migration by Americans to smaller cars into a stampede.
In what industry analysts are calling a first, about one in five vehicles sold in the United States was a compact or subcompact car during April, based on monthly sales data released Thursday. Almost a decade ago, when sport utility vehicles were at their peak of popularity, only one in every eight vehicles sold was a small car.
The switch to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles has been building in recent years, but has accelerated recently with the advent of $3.50-a-gallon gas. At the same time, sales of pickup trucks and large sport utility vehicles have dropped sharply.
In another first, fuel-sipping four-cylinder engines surpassed six-cylinder models in popularity in April.
“It’s easily the most dramatic segment shift I have witnessed in the market in my 31 years here,” said George Pipas, chief sales analyst for the Ford Motor Company.
This is good news, but for someone like me, I wonder. I am an amputee, and I must use a wheelchair. My wife and I now own a 2002 Pontiac Montana extended wheelbase minivan, and it’s a great one for us. If we’re ever going to buy another vehicle, it will have to be another van, because compacts just don’t fill the bill. Personally, I’d prefer a hybrid minivan, but I don’t think there’s one anywhere on the horizon. If there is, then why haven’t we heard about it?
Car makers need to consider the needs of handicapped drivers, and so far, they’ve done a lousy job! We’re people, too, remember!
i don’t honestly know why the big 3 act as if they didn’t see this coming. i only buy american and for years have bemoaned the fact that they never offer more than 1 or 2 small efficient models and they were ugly! it doesn’t take a genius to see future trends, and unfortunately the big 3 have been running behind since the 70’s. come one people, we are smarter than this!
This is not all good news in that it may well kill the US auto Industry. Their is no profit in the small cars – they tend to be loss leaders – also the Big Three excell in larger engines relative to foreign competiton.
I read recently – it may have been here – that synthetic oil in volume of 2 million barrels (about half of our needs) a day at $55 per barrell could be achieved. The Germans were able to run their war machine while being heavily bombed on syntheitic oil – we ought to be able to do the same. combined with our own oil production we would be nearly self sufficient – it would drastically lower the price of oil worldwide and improve our trade deficit.
Want a great American compact? Consider the Ford Focus. We have a 2000 Focus station wagon…..gets great gas mileage; we average 19 mpg around town and 26 on the highway. I can drive it and our minivan because they’re both automatics. But I repeat what I said: We need cars geared to the requirements of older citizens and handicapped people……and the manufacturers are doing a lousy job of it. That includes the imports.
And by the way: The import minivans…..even the hybrids…..are too small! We need ROOM!
The survey seems to be based on new car sales only. I imagine that used car sales are also affected.
Within the week I hope to send my ’91 Dodge Dynasaur (8cyl) to the crusher and replace it with a ’93 Honda Accord (4cyl). When Detroit begins building vehicles that are both economical and regularly last up to a quarter million miles I will gladly come back.
[size=1][color=red][url=http://resurrectioncommunitypersonal.blogspot.com/]The Rabbit[/url][/color][color=gray].[/color][/size]
Cennydd, some of the smaller SUVs might warrant a look. Maybe the Ford Escape Hybrid for good mpgs? A good friend of mine is a paraplegic and loved her Blazer, when it died recently she got a Jeep Patriot and I hear nothing but good, apart from mileage. Her commute is tiny (something like 3 miles round trip) so gas isn’t much of an issue for her.
Br-er, you might take a look at used Buicks. My family regularly takes them to 200k to 250k, they get surprisingly good mileage, and they’re horrible at holding their value, so used ones are cheap.
I am certainly not looking for sympathy, indeed, I have guilt by admitting my fondness for frequent travel in a a recreational vehicle that gets 9-11 mpg and necssitates the ownership of gas-guzzling tow vehicle. A rough consensus amongst RV owners is that they are the last of a dying breed though some have faith in technology to soon develop 40 ft. lightweight motorhomes that will run on low cost alternative fuels, electricity, hydrogen, or some other yet-to-be-invented propulsion system. Were I so optmistic although I do not plan to warehouse or sell my travel trailer. I will just stay closer to home and suffer the mean looks of Prisus’s that pass me on the highway.
Odd, the article was silent on one downside of smaller cars: weaker safety features. Fuel efficiency is a good, but not an unmitigated good.
Cennydd – Toyota has 2 hybrid minivans in Japan, and is rumored to be bringing a hybrid version of the Sienna to market in the US around 2009.
Magnolia – The US manufacturers couldn’t have done anything even if they saw it coming (and GM tried with the Saturn brand which began manufacturing in the early 1990’s, which was innovative when launched but never paid off as a business). The smaller cars have lower price tags, which means lower margins for the manufacturers. Once you account for all the overhead that needs to be defrayed for each car, there’s no way US manufacturers can compete. So they keep a few very minimal feature-function models in order to retain whatever brand-loyal customers remain (or to get their kids in the door with their first car), but their development is focused on the high-end (SUV, truck, minivan, performance car). The Asian manufacturers have been textbook bottom-up competitors: first they took over compacts, then mid-size/sedans, then extended into luxury (sometimes using alternate brands like Infiniti), and finally are invading the truck space. They’ve also transformed the service component: dealership service bays open early, late and on Saturdays; great warranty coverage; cheap maintenance packages.
#9 – I don’ think it’s odd that no downsides are mentioned – the article, after all, is from the New York Times.
In addition to safety is convenience. Kendall and others here have 3+ children (who need car seats if they’re small). That means you can’t take anyone else in your car unless you have an SUV or minivan. That’s a distinct disadvantage to smaller cars. And why you’ll continue to see SUVs and minivans leaving the dealer lots for the foreseeable future….
Is there any evidence that bigger cars are safer than smaller cars?
Convenience is possibly what is killing the planet.
I didn’t know that small cars were loss leaders. I wonder how the Japanese companies are able to do it.
in the past, John, strong dollar against a weak Yen or other currency. We may see a rise in the cost of Japanese and other foreign cars.
As to the evidence of safety, larger cars will win everytime. One of the ‘justifications’ for higher insurance rates for SUVs was that in a car accident, the SUV would cause more damage to the other car, and therefore the insurance company would have to pay out more in post-accident medical coverage.
If I were in my Toyota Corolla when I had my accident, I would have been very seriously injured or possibly deceased. Fortunately I was driving the less than a year old Dodge Caravan (I traded the Corolla in on that one). The van was still totalled, but I walked away, and the only real damage was from the air-bag pushing my arm back and bruising my nerves. Most of the feeling has returned except for the tip of my right index finger. Still, I think I got off light.
Peace
Jim Elliott <><
It’s not just the domestics, I’ve read that VW loses money on every Rabbit sold. They do it in the hopes that satisfied Rabbit buys will come in and buy a (profitable to produce) Jetta or Passat when they start having kids. That’s also why VW charges extra for things like an armrest in the Rabbit.
Initially the Japanese were able to make money on small cars because that was all they made in their home market (my Grandfather was an early Toyota dealer) – high volume. In the 60’s and 70’s Japanese wages were also substantially lower than the high paying union jobs of Detroit. The Japanese also benefit from having fewer retirees and not having to bear the cost of health benefits to current and past employees.
If one reads the auto guides – typically the US manufactures get high marks on V-6s and V-8’s and low marks on 4-cylinder vehicles.
As I posted on a similar thread a few days ago.
If any of you have a good, used Expedition or Tahoe and think you just have to have a hybrid or compact, post your email below and i’ll be in touch. Looking for 2005 to 2007 models with 30K to 50K for $10K to $12. I can pay for $4 gas for years at 20 mpg while you’re still paying off a $35K Prius that gets 35. And I’ll take my safety in a 3500 pound vehicle any day and call haul seven people and a boat.
John (#11) – There are good studies from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (or third-parties using their data) showing an increase in fatalities from smaller cars. Some are from older data, some newer. Also, it’s not simply the size of the car, but its overall construction, and cars with better mpg tend to be less protective. It’s all about tradeoffs, and sometimes those can be fatal. In the early 1980’s my dad sold his beloved Camaro (canary yellow, vinyl top, V8) and bought a VW Rabbit. He got sideswiped by a dumptruck a few months after the swap (he survived, luckily), pretty much destroying the driver side of the VW. He’d have been much safer in the Camaro, but he’s smart and understood the tradeoff of a more economical vehicle over a cooler and safer one.
The Asian companies (Japanese primarily, at first) had or created several advantages. First, much lower pension and healthcare costs (this on its own makes small cars unprofitable for US automakers). Second, more ownership over the value chain end-to-end via keiretsu, so input costs are lower. Third, larger scale – not necessarily at the car-level, but at the part-level, since they designed much smarter. The US manufacturers tried to compete on features (works for a while), squeezing suppliers to cut cost, playing on patriotism, hiding behind tariffs; the Europeans tried some of the same, plus consolidation (think DaimlerChrysler), national subsidies, etc. But over the long-term, the Asian combo of price-competitiveness and quality-superiority wins.
I must chime in … safety: I have personally been creamed by big luxury cars in a Jetta and a Cabrio and I walked away from both. Yes, a Suburban will crush a little car, but remember as more and more people opt for littler cars, you are more likely to be hit by one of those. Safety is a two way street: by buying a giant car, you are keeping yourself safe and increasing the likelihood of injuring someone who bought a small car for whatever reason.
Along the same lines, there is great news here for people who for various reasons need a bigger car or an SUV. Supply and demand. If I choose to drive a fuel efficient car b/c I can, I am freeing up supply for someone who cannot make that same choice. Nothing irritates me more than a person who says “hey, I can afford the gas for my Hummer H1, so what do I care?” Well, duh! So what if you can afford it? Did you ever think that you are driving up the costs for lots of people who can’t afford it?
BTW: Ford has been making teeny tiny cars for the European market for years. They just wouldn’t let us have them till now.
Gdb, that’s what I like about my Pontiac Montana……except I don’t tow anything. I have room for the groceries and things that we buy in bulk at Costco, AND my wheelchair & crutches…..once each month. The Toyota, Honda, and KIA minivans just don’t have the room we need. When the new Toyota hybrid minivans hit the US market, I’ll give ’em a look.
chips, i visited great britain in 1999 and almost everyone there drove a compact-and gm and ford were both BIG players there and most importantly they were supercute designs! so i have to have a little skepticism when i hear that they get no profit from them-i mean how many other countries drive the big heaps? most of them drive seem to drive small because they have been paying these high prices for years.
rabbit, my hubby drove an explorer to 248k and my chevy tracker is up to 178k, i think american is catching up on longevity and quality.
libraryjim, i was in 5 crashes in a 2 year period(i think the car was cursed) in my little 98 escort zx2. i finally hit a deer at night doing 70-80 on the highway which demolished the car and caught the engine on fire-i walked away each time with no injuries.
thanks ya’ll i always enjoy reading your thoughts!
On the crash scene, I too was creamed in my ’85 Honda 4WD minivan by a Lincoln, and carry around the arthritic scars from a busted knee. I still prefer the smaller cars, though. They’re so much easier to drive.
[size=1][color=red][url=http://resurrectioncommunitypersonal.blogspot.com/]The Rabbit[/url][/color][color=gray].[/color][/size]
“killing the planet”….. idiocy on parade.
What we are dealing with, when the government doesn’t but its head in to fix what isn’t broken (and it wouldn’t have a clue how to fix it if it was, biofuels anyone?), is the market. People will buy what meets their needs and businesses will compete to offer what they want. Those that compete well will prosper. Those that don’t will fail (unless the government bails them out). Defining people’s needs is a mixture of physics and metaphysics, that is the objective reality of what is technologically possible (we can produce large tanks with low gas mileage or small tin cans with high mileage) and the subjective desires of the individual consumers (is what is most important to us comfort, safety, economy, ecology or some other factor?).
many people don’t like the invisible hand of the market because they don’t trust it to do what is right. Such people will always prefer some form of tyranny, as long as they’re in the driver’s seat.
The difference is Europeans are used to paying much more for their cars. The cheapest VW Golf lists at 12,945 pounds, or $25,528.83 according to XE.com’s converter. That’s with a 75hp gas engine. The US version, the Rabbit, starts at $15,600, with a 170hp has engine. That’s a $10,000 difference.
Or take the VW GTI, which apart from the steering wheel location is the same car here or in the UK. In the UK it costs $41,032.19 Here it lists for $22,800, both are with no options. Even at the exchange rate as it was in May 1999, it’d be $36,639.60 in Britain, or about $14,000 more. So for what they pay for a GTI in London, you could buy a GTI in the states and then go buy a Toyota Yaris and have money left over.
That’s why the Ford Focus here and the Focus in Europe are built on two different chassis. The European design is too costly to be sold in the compact segment here, though there has been some rumors of bringing it over as a Mercury or Lincoln. Sort of how the Ford Mondeo (midlevel family car) was sold here as the Jaguar X-Type.
Top Gear (BBC) rated the Ford Mondeo as a top-notch car, with little to criticize. That and the Subaru Legacy Outback.
We can get the Subaru Outback here, but not the Mondeo. For years I’ve wanted an Outback — cute, large space, good gas mileage — but the cost has been off-putting.
Oh, the new Mondeo is supposed to be very nice. Jeremy Clarkson loves it, and that’s saying something. There’s also some talk of bringing it here as a Mercury or Lincoln, though less heavily optioned than the X-type was.
Even though it would apply to a relatively unique class of vehicle, I still say that manufacturers need to pay a lot more attention to the needs of handicapped drivers. The fact is that they DON’T, and the reason that they don’t is that there’s no profit in it! It can cost a small fortune to have a vehicle specially adapted, and insurance doesn’t cover all of the cost.
Small minivans just don’t have enough room to carry a wheelchair and passengers, and when you add groceries and other items to the mix, the results are obvious! For me, just lifting a chair over the rear bumper and into a crossover vehicle can be hard to do…..I speak from experience…..while a minivan is easier to load because of the much lower tailgate sill. For me to ride a bus is out of the question.
This is a good example of how a private good creates collective insanity.
By and large, it is better for me to have a SUV and everyone else to have a small car. But if everyone makes that same decision, we’ll help destroy the planet – and everyone has SUVs.
I can be selfish, but it ends up hurting others.
Nonsense, JW, it will not “destroy the planet”. It may make it harder for humans to live here, but the planet will continue to orbit the sun, with or without our presence.
As to ‘convenience’, what is convienient about someone in a wheelchair needing a car that is big enough to transport him AND the chair and all equipment needed for him — or her — to be able to be mobile? It is not convenience but rather necessity that dictates what size car they drive.
John (26), spoken like a real socialist. Everyone can have the car they want as long as I get to decide what they need.
That selfish motive is called the free market. I think I need a seven passenger vehicle that can haul Boy Scouts and a trailer and be safe while doing it. You think you can get by with a Ford Focus or similar. Fine. We all make economic decisions that go well beyond the price of gasoline.
And as far as destroying the planet, whatever are you talking about?
Hooray! Another Boy Scout parent who understands that a Toyota Prius just cannot — CANNOT — work when going on a Boy Scout Camping weekend! Just one of the reasons I bought a Dodge Caravan!
Jim Elliott <>< PS, modern cars are less polluting now then they were even a few decades ago.