Detnews Article On The Changing Face Of Vehicle Markets

[emu steve]

Naw, ya just pull into a truck stop, pick a quiet corner, get your coffee, get some zzzs. Morning? Get your coffee again and off ya go. Only way to travel. Before my old dog passed on, he made the trips with me many times. We wuz good company. We both loved each trip. Except when driving through Nebraska. I don't like Nebraska. He only liked it for the pee stops, me too.

I don't like Nebraska, either.

I guess if I drive to Florida sometime I can choose which states I'd like to pee in [[or not pee in).

[archfan]

Young single lady I know fell in love with a Chevy Camaro and "just had to have it". After a year, she traded it in on a SUV. I asked her why and shw said that she couldn's see to back up in the Camaro.

Gumball Rally: What's-a behind me is not important.

[emu steve]

This article highlights a theme I started this thread with:

"1). Market is moving from the traditional car to trucks and SUVs. Some like those vehicles but I dislike to park next to them in the parking lots. "

https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/columnists/brian-dickerson/2018/01/13/parking-spaces-too-small/1021382001/

When I rent a car on a trip. I go smaller. My next car will be a couple inches narrower than my present car. That's all I can do.

[bust]

It won't be long before giant trucks and SUVs look old fashioned, a characteristic of a previous age. Crossovers and small cars yes. Expeditions and Navigators no. Gas prices won't remain at historic lows forever. And healthy cities are not full of parking lots and city planners have come to realize this.

Of course trucks and SUVs are still the bread and butter of Detroit carmakers. But in the coming age of electrified vehicles and congestion abatement their use will be limited to commercial purposes and wealthy d-bags proud to flout common sense and altruistic concern for the environment for the grandiose statement their narcissism compels them to make by their vehicle purchase. Remember the Hummer demographic? At least in metro areas. Some better off non-d-bags will still drive them in the countryside, where the terrain and their daily activities truly warrant it. As it should be.

I don't have a crystal ball any better than anyone else's, but even if the large truck and SUV market is still growing, I think it won't be long before it contracts. I hope Detroit carmakers are preparing for this longer term refocus so they find a way to make a profit selling smaller more fuel efficient vehicles. Electric. Self-driving.

Cars are going to get more expensive. And most people don't need 90ft2 of cargo volume on a regular basis. But it will get easier and easier to rent or hire whatever vehicle you need when you need it. The rare times the average person needs an SUV most will be able to have one at their door in minutes. So why drive a truck or SUV as your everyday car? When a compact car is all you need for 85% of your trips and a crossover is enough for almost everything else? Only if you've got the cash and your psychology compels you to believe you need it.

I hope the article is wrong and the carmakers are not planning to shift almost all small and mid-size vehicle production overseas. It's not looking good for auto factory jobs in the US if that's the case.

[bust]

I've had an SUV since 1984. On my yearly trips from home in Las Vegas to Detroit, I sleep in the back very comfortably. Bet you SUV haters never thought of that, did ya?

As a kid we sometimes slept three-across [[one adult, two kids) in the back of a Ford Pinto wagon. Tight fit, but a SUV wasn't necessary.

[Zacha341]

Hah! I already know HT. Unless you have a certain income level and have a specified competent repair person when you need some Europeans are a no-no. Especially as they age. A young man in my neighborhood had an older Audie and he and his friends called themselves doing a summer day 'driveway' repair. Well that was the end of that. That vehicle never ran right again!

Actually the only foreign cars I bother with are Toyota's. Never European but I road in a lower model Audi, and goodness was that plain looking thing was fast and road grip and feel was incredible. They're build for speed!

....I didn't realize the Grand Nationals were that quick. I thought of them more as retro eye candy. Audi's are problematic, Zacha341, don't do it.