Screw gas prices, analysts say Americans still want SUVs

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Screw gas prices, analysts say Americans still want SUVs

3 October 2005 Filed under: Trends View: 8

Screw gas prices, analysts say Americans still want SUVs

This PR Newswire report is almost laughable in its exposition of a report in the upcoming issue of Newsweek that reveals 56% of Americans refuse to downsize their vehicles despite the high price of gas. The point of the report is that while consumers aren't downsizing, they are altering their tastes to include smaller SUVs and crossovers that are often built on car frames and use less thirsty V6 engines.

The article quotes an AutoPacific consultant as saying, ?We haven?t turned into wimps overnight,? as if people who consider fuel efficiency when car shopping are showing a sign a weakness. It refers to the Hummer H3 as a ?modest? SUV. Perhaps the most odd quote comes from a J.D. Power guy who says, ?For hybrids to have a double digit market share we?d essentially have to run out of fossil fuel.? Me thinks a worldwide lack of fossil fuel would put a dent in the sale of hybrids as well as SUVs.

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