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If something drastic happened like back to back cat 4/5 hurricanes in the gulf or the wrong middle east country gets angry and gas went back to $3-4 and stayed there, would there still be a strong demand for Crossovers, SUV's and Pick Ups or would this send people back to Full Size Sedans or the return of Station Wagons?
I doubt it. For some insane reason most people in this country think bigger is better. They don't care that the monstrosities they drive are making our enemies in the middle east richer. They want to make up for shortcomings with a "dig me" behemoth.
Anyone who doesn't have to deal with unplowed roads, mud season, large pets, trips to Home Depot, and no curbside trash pick-up might rethink their vehicle choices.
A sustained, higher fuel price will lead folks to higher mileage vehicles. I do not think that automatically means they will rush back to 3 box sedans. They are buying more CUV's for a reason. They will tend to focus more on the higher mileage ones (which is, really, what is driving the recent explosion in CUV marketshare as it is, the B and C class varients... which do generally offer very good fuel efficiency)
If something drastic happened like back to back cat 4/5 hurricanes in the gulf or the wrong middle east country gets angry and gas went back to $3-4 and stayed there, would there still be a strong demand for Crossovers, SUV's and Pick Ups or would this send people back to Full Size Sedans or the return of Station Wagons?
Most crossovers don't really get much worse mileage than sedans, certainly not than full-sized sedans.
Eg Toyota Avalon gets 21/30, RAV4 23/30, Highlander 21/27. That's why crossovers are popular. 21/27 for a Highlander isn't substantially worse than an Avalon or V6 Camry. The 17/21 that a 4Runner gets is a bit more of a hit.
So no, they won't because crossovers really don't get any worse mileage than full-size sedans as it is. They do get worse gas mileage than a compact and not everyone needs something the size of a Highlander. $3-4 probably isn't enough to get people out of Highlanders and into Corollas (30/40) though.
Back when gas went crazy 10 years ago, I remember seeing 4 "good ol' boys" carpooling in a Yaris to work. The previous year they all drove their own F-250s.
I think it was a bit of an overreaction, but now you can buy a 3 row seating SUV with the same gas mileage as an old roadster. The Honda S2000 only got 25mpgs with premium gas and 240hp. . A modern Dodge Durango gets the same mileage with 87 octane, and almost 300 hp and can comfortably take 7 people across country. Honestly insurance premiums increase far more than gas prices do, but nobody seems to mind. I think it's more psychological than anything.
I doubt it. For some insane reason most people in this country think bigger is better. They don't care that the monstrosities they drive are making our enemies in the middle east richer. They want to make up for shortcomings with a "dig me" behemoth.
Pick-ups and SUV's are not making those country's any richer. Why the hate? Some of us like larger vehicles. Personally, they are much more comfortable then the tiny sardine cans most "do-gooders" drive. And no, none of us are trying to make up for anything. We just like/need them. Quite simple really!
With all the fuel used for everything from planes, boats, ships, jets, etc, etc, our pick-ups aren't the evil fuel suckers you believe them to be. Hell, the boat I worked on the last couple years burned 140 gallons/hour of diesel. This year I'm on an economical one burning only 60 gallons/hour!
In the overall scheme of things (the big picture), full sized pick-ups and SUV's are in the same fuel burning catagory as compact cars.
Personally, I'm just sick and tired of people hating on larger vehicles and claimingf we are destroying the environment. If you really want to be a do gooder, stop buying Chinese made junk as they are putting more pollutants in the air then all the SUV's/Pick em ups in this country combined!
Pick-ups and SUV's are not making those country's any richer. Why the hate? Some of us like larger vehicles. Personally, they are much more comfortable then the tiny sardine cans most "do-gooders" drive. And no, none of us are trying to make up for anything. We just like/need them. Quite simple really!
With all the fuel used for everything from planes, boats, ships, jets, etc, etc, our pick-ups aren't the evil fuel suckers you believe them to be. Hell, the boat I worked on the last couple years burned 140 gallons/hour of diesel. This year I'm on an economical one burning only 60 gallons/hour!
In the overall scheme of things (the big picture), full sized pick-ups and SUV's are in the same fuel burning catagory as compact cars.
Personally, I'm just sick and tired of people hating on larger vehicles and claimingf we are destroying the environment. If you really want to be a do gooder, stop buying Chinese made junk as they are putting more pollutants in the air then all the SUV's/Pick em ups in this country combined!
I prefer the sardine cans myself. That said, one of my sardine cans if you really babied it got about 17 mpg. I averaged more like 14-15 mpg in the two and a half years I owned it. Basically it got about the same gas mileage that a Suburban did at the time, maybe a couple extra miles per gallon. Pretty abysmal for a 4 cylinder sardine can but then that's what's fun about stereotypes.
For the cities with collapsed infrastructure(like Cleveland metro), SUV/truck is the necessary tool for survival.
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