Quote:
Originally Posted by bradykp
i just don't agree with this. i think they build what they generally believe people want, and in some cases they hit the mark, but they also ignore what many people would buy if the option was presented to them. SUVs didn't exist really at all before the 90s. there were some true Sport-Utility-Vehicles, and people who truly needed them bought them. then they started removing the utility (lose the skid plate, lose the good suspension, lose the proper center of gravity, etc) to start selling them cheaply and more profitibaly...and then advertised the heck out of them. essentially, they created the market. they also made small cars to be complete junk. making people dislike them for quality, fit and finish, and size.
i think if consumers were presented with a suburban that gets 10mpg and runs on unleaded fuel, or a suburban that gets 20mpg and runs on diesel, a majority of consumers would choose the suburban that gets 20mpg.
maybe this qualifies as conspiracy theory, but in my view, the oil industry is squashing the idea of fuel efficient vehicles in every chance they get, and the u.s. auto industry has played along all the way.
|
This post may run a little long, so bear with me.
The actual impetus for the creation of SUV's, minivans and the rise of trucks as personal transportation is directly tied to the enacting of the original CAFE legislation. A secondary cause was the creation of emissions standards that dramatically reduced the power output of engines.
The government divided vehicles into two groups, cars and light trucks. Light trucks were given a loose definition of any vehicle wherein the removal of seats by simple tools to reveal a level load floor that gave the vehicle more cargo than passenger capacity could be considered a light truck. That is an important piece to note as that standard has driven a lot of car design.
Previous to the encating of the legislation the most common family vehicle was the large sedan or wagon. These vehicles offered families adequate space and power to get around. Both of these types were classified as "cars" by CAFE and were held to a standard of 27 MPG combined for all cars a manufacturer sold. Light trucks were held to a much lower standard of 21 MPG.
The manufacturers quickly realized that they could no longer continue building the large, powerful sedans and wagons that had formed the bulk of what families chose for transportation. The sedans and wagons began to shrink in size and their engine outputs fell further in an attempt to meet the CAFE standards.
The public in general had a great distaste for the new emissions choked, smaller cars that were quickly becoming the only options available. The car companies also realized that wagons were thirstier than sedans and they couldn't continue to build wagons that provided the demanded size and power without completely axing their large sedans that were still the dominant sellers.
Enter Chrysler and Lee Iacocca. Chrysler developed a program to replace their wagon fleet that was dragging down their car compliance numbers with a new form of family hauler that would strike a balance and offer people the space they needed, while being more efficient than a full size van. The caveat was that it needed to be made on a car platform to utilize existing factory capacity, but needed to meet the CAFE definition of light truck in order not drag down the average of the car fleet, while bolstering the average of the truck fleet. The fruit of that program was the original minivan. This is the reason that minivans have always had removable seats, that's how they can be considered "light trucks" for CAFE purposes. The minivan was a smash hit for Chrysler and other companies rapidly followed up on their success, but were never able to seriously challenege Chrysler's market position.
In the meantime, gas prices had declined to some of their lowest levels ever and the auto manufacturers noticed a dramtic increase in pickup truck sales. The reasoning was that Americans were abandoning the now smaller, FWD low powered sedans in favor of the larger, RWD, more powerful pickup trucks as these were the only vehicles that even began to resemble the "standard" American car from even a decade ago.
The pickup truck had one major flaw though, you couldn't take your family along. Companies looking to rival Chryslers success with the minivan began to utlizie their existing truck platfroms that were exceedingly popular with buyers to create the first SUV's.
Unburdened by high fuel prices American's flocked to the SUV as a way to shake off the image the minivan had gained and still provide adequate room for their families in a more stylish and powerful package. These vehicles were immensely profitable for the auto makers as they had very low development costs owing to much of their underpinnings being truck based. Again, through the use of removable seats, these vehicles were able to be classified as light trucks.
Cars of the era weren't "terrible" but they were a lot smaller, with lower powered engines and many couldn't easily accomodate the average family of 5 and their suburban lifestyle. All of that was the result of forcing the automakers to meet a specific MPG number. It took many of them well into the 2000's to refine engine technology to provide both the power and effeciency that people wanted. Even then, cars remained much smaller than they were.
The overall impact of CAFE was to LOWER the average fuel economy of the U.S. car fleet as people flocked to minivans and SUV's. It was not some vast conspiracy by auto makers and oil companies, it was a market reaction led by the American consumer to choose a product they wanted and it all began with the minivan breaking the mold of what a "light truck" could be.
You seem to draw parallels with Europe, while failing to realize the differences that drove the behavior. European families on average are smaller than American families with one child households being the norm and three child households being rather odd. European roads and cities are narrower than in America, necessitating smaller cars. Europeans have always paid high fuel prices through taxation, pushing for the desire to have the most efficient cars possible. European cities and suburbs were not developed to be road dependent as they are in the U.S. removing the car as a necessity for regular daily transportation.
As for diesel engines, Americans as a whole have always had a distaste for diesel. Gas was generally very cheap, so the fuel economy benefit was negligible. Diesel engines that were originally tried in the U.S. were poor performers with multiple issues, turning many people off. People were also greatly turned off by the "dirty" emissions from diesel engines belching black smoke. Those early efforts were abortive and diesel engines remained relegated to truck use. Now, the greatest barrier to diesel engine use in the U.S. is the higher cost of diesel fuel and stricter U.S. emissions standards, that cut into the efficiency and add significant cost to an imported diesel.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
