The Death of the SUV

[kirbypuckett]

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/06/rising-gas-pric.html

After reigning supreme for the better part of two decades, the mighty SUV has at long last fallen, done in by mounting fuel prices that have consumers embracing small cars and automakers scrambling to build them.

Nissan pounded the latest nail into the coffin today when it followed General Motors, Ford and Toyota in saying it will scale back production of trucks and SUVs in favor of fuel-efficient cars now that the bottom has fallen out of light truck market. Car sales, which accounted for half of the industry's volume last year, hit 57 percent last month while truck sales fell by double-digits to their lowest mark since 1995.

Need more proof the SUV is a goner? Ford's venerable F150 pickup ended its 17-year-run as the best-selling vehicle in America last month, dethroned by the Honda Civic and three other Japanese sedans. General Motors is looking to unload Hummer, the epitome of gas-guzzling excess, after sales fell 60 percent in May. The number of Civics sold in one month exceed the number of Hummers GM expects to sell all year.

"The SUV as a lifestyle choice, as a personal statement, is dead," Aaron Bragman, an industry analyst at Global Insight, tells Wired.com. "People are downsizing from their big trucks to smaller cars."

What's surprising isn't that SUVs are dead, but how quickly they fell.

The major automakers have in the past year or so vowed to ramp up production of passenger cars, and industry watchers predicted sales of passenger cars would surpass those of trucks within in a couple of years. Instead, it happened almost overnight as fuel prices raced toward, and then surpassed, $4 a gallon.

"We had planned on the small car - truck reversal occurring in 2010," Bragman says. "It's coming a lot faster than anyone expected."

Jesse Toprak, chief industry analyst for Edmunds, agrees, telling CNNMoney.com, "We've never seen this big of a change in the product mix, this fast. Certainly five to 10 years from now you're going to look back and say the spring of '08 was the turning point. Even if gas prices go down for a month or two, consumers are not going to rush back out and buy SUVs. This appears to be a permanent shift."

The shift has the auto industry reeling. U.S. auto sales plummeted almost across the board last month - among the biggies, only Honda and Nissan posted gains - amid a staggering decline in light truck sales: 37 percent at General Motors, 25 percent at Ford and 12 percent at Toyota. The Japanese automaker saw sales of its Tundra pickup fall 33 percent.

"All of our previous assumptions on the full-size pickup truck segment are off the table," Bob Carter, Toyota division sales chief said last week during a conference call with reporters. Translation - we have no idea how low they'll go.

The bright spot for Toyota is the Camry and Corolla joined the Honda Civic and Accord in unseating the F150 as the best-selling vehicle in America. For that reason, the automaker may ramp up production of the Camry at its light truck plant in Princeton, Ind.

Toyota isn't the only one tossing SUVs over the side to make room for more passenger cars. Honda is cranking out more Civics and Nissan is cutting production of the Titan pickup and Armada SUV at its plant in Canton, Miss. (pictured) to build more Altima passenger cars. Last month's Altima sales rose almost 44 percent over the same month in 2007.

And then there's General Motors, shutting down four truck plants and embracing compact cars with a promise that 18 of its next 19 new vehicles will be passenger cars or crossover utility vehicles - the industry term for big station wagons. Ford's also cutting truck production and cranking out more CUVs and cars.

Small cars are the only thing keeping the industry afloat these days. Demand for hybrids has outstripped supply and many dealers have long waiting lists. Sales of the Ford Focus were up 53 percent last month, as were sales of Mini. Honda and Acura sales rose 31.9 percent, Hyundai was up 26.3 and Nissan climbed 18.7 percent.

There will always be a market for pickup trucks and SUVs among contractors, law-enforcement agencies and the like, but Satori Aoki, chairman of Honda Motor Co., predicts the trend away from them is here to stay. "One thing that's certain is that consumer interest in fuel-efficient, environmentally friendly cars will grow," he told reporters.

He's right. The SUV is dead. Long live small cars.

Solid article if you have the time to read it.

Especially the part about the Civic being the #1 selling car in America, no longer the Ford F150 which held the title for a whopping 17 years!

I LOL at all the SUV drivers I see these days. One lady at my work drives an Expedition to work, those things are absurd and must get like 6-8mpg.

Here's another interesting article about the safety of SUVs -- many Americans bought them because they thought they were safer...

http://www.gladwell.com/2004/2004_01_12_a_suv.html

I also liked this comment left on Slashdot...

"I take my 2.5 kids up the mountain 4x4ing and fishing all year round in my Liberty."

Yep, you definitely need a 4WD SUV to take the highway up the mountain to the paved turnoff leading to the trailhead parking lot. And while you're taking pictures, send me one of the Honda Civic and the VW Beetle parked next to you in the same lot. (I live in Colorado, BTW. See 'em parked side-by-side all the time.)

I'd estimate that MAYBE one in 10,000 SUV owners have EVER used their vehicle under the off-road conditions for which it was originally designed. And even then 99% of the time they're back home shuffling kids to soccer and groceries from the store.

Too many idiots bought them for what they could do, someday, maybe, and not for what they "actually" do day-in-and-day-out.

[jacobe]

How will families of 3 ever get where they're going in comfort?

[riddle350]

Seeing a Hummer trying to park in downtown Seattle is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen.

[dante3000]

I'm not even reading that article. Fact is SUV's are (and have been) stupid, useless and unnecessary. If you do construction or off roading, buy a truck. If you're a family, get a station wagon or a van. I have yet to hear one person legitimately give a good reason for owning one of those oversized pieces of shit.

[ps]

I'm not even reading that article. Fact is SUV's are (and have been) stupid, useless and unnecessary. If you do construction or off roading, buy a truck. If you're a family, get a station wagon or a van. I have yet to hear one person legitimately give a good reason for owning one of those oversized pieces of shit.

One good reason: If you have a family and need 4WD w/good ground clearance.... as many people do in the northern section of my fine state.

just bustin' balls

[benchwarmer]

I have always hated SUVs. Always. I never understood them, and I constantly shake my head at them. I'm glad they're going away. I feel bad for all the people losing their jobs, but hopefully they can just go into production of the smaller cards. my Yaris FTW!

[mikeian]

I'd estimate that MAYBE one in 10,000 SUV owners have EVER used their vehicle under the off-road conditions for which it was originally designed.

sometimes, you know, you just need 4WD...

not the brightest of my ideas anyway cuz my friend's truck was not 4WD...

and this wasn't even in the "mountains", but rather in the hills of a private community in southern california... at 3am....

[cosmonaut]

Good riddance. I never understood the logic behind monstrous SUVs, especially in the city.

[flood]

we have a honda element, and for an suv it gets really good gas mileage... plus the fact that i can comfortably sleep in it, as well as transport our PA, dogs, or shipments of cds + vinyl.. make it totally worth it... altho anything bigger than that would be a waste.

[devilstrombone]

Seeing a Hummer trying to park in downtown Seattle is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen.

Seeing a hummer in gerneral is one of the dumbest things ever.

[jhulud]

Here in South FloriDUH! there is an overabundance of SUV's on the road. Most of them driven by scoccer moms (is that tag still relevant nowadays?) and small families. I can understand having 3+ kids and whatnot. But during my day-to-day driving for work, I see mostly single persons driving them.

The times I see F150's and the like are work-trucks. I have indeed noticed though a decrease in SUV's and large trucks out on the road. I see more and more Civics, Mazdas (3s and 6s), and Cobalts.

At the end of the day, it's all going to be the same for me because people are stupid and will get into car accidents.

[Guest baseball]

Good. About time the fuckers stopped completely blocking my view way down in my little Civic at the several two direction stop signs I have on my daily route. God that's annoying. Have some consideration, if you're in a gigantic SUV you can still see traffic while leaving me a few feet to see past you.

[cosmonaut]

we have a honda element, and for an suv it gets really good gas mileage... plus the fact that i can comfortably sleep in it, as well as transport our PA, dogs, or shipments of cds + vinyl.. make it totally worth it... altho anything bigger than that would be a waste.

But the Element is in a totally different league than a Hummer or an Expedition of some other crap like that. Elements are utilitarian cars that aren't monstrosities.

[jhamm212]

There are more trucks than people here in Texas. It's insane.

[andrew13]

there are places where you need 4wd, especially in rural areas like western pa. i have a little 2wd car and love it in the summer, but in the winter nearly die daily. the roads here blow, penndot is even worse, and it seems like the winters are getting worse with more snow and ice. i still don't get why people who live here, in towns and all paved roads have them though. i live on a farm in the middle of nowhere on dirt roads, so where i live it would be useful.

[thomas]

AWD/4WD barely eats more gas than a 2wd car. It just depends on how it's set-up, like my dad's Subaru gets great gas mileage and is amazing in snow and ice. My 2wd car sucks in even the smallest amount of snow, and if we get a winter like last again it's time for me to move to a awd car.

@mikeian: haha, how did you get it out, stand in the back until both the drive wheels were on the ground or get winched out?

[mikeian]

@mikeian: haha, how did you get it out, stand in the back until both the drive wheels were on the ground or get winched out?

it was in some stupid hilly area that didn't have reception so we had to walk like 1/4 or so of a mile to get reception and cuz it was rear wheel drive and couldn't get any traction.. we called a friend to bring some rope which was some thin ass rope from 7-11 and his car was a prelude... epic failure.. so my friend that owned the truck drove back to his house, took his mom's 4Runner and some thick rope and pulled that sucker out... i was in the passenger's side and i had to get out through the window..

[cbbrew22]

just got an automated call from our local ford dealership...

"this is phil long ford and we have a great deal for you! all of our f-model trucks are available for our reduced employee price!"

lol no thanks

[controlthebleeding]

i have a buddy that has a large TRUCK, and it's jacked up and 4 door, etc etc.... and he uses it for status only...when i asked why he got such big tires, and such a big truck, he said "because he could afford it"... now he's bitching about gas prices as his truck only get maybe 15mpg. He really doesn't worry because his gas is paid for by his dad's company.

[sgoodcore]

SUV are retarded vehicles for the most part made for people who want the status but need a station wagon. Its just wanton gluttony. Same reason station wagons are now called "crossovers."

I totally agree with the 99% argument. 99% of people who buy big trucks or SUVs don't use them and therefore don't need them.

[monk0nuggets]

Good find! There is a very small amount of people that actually use SUVs and trucks for what they were made for.

[sherlock]

americans have been buying "big" cars since right after world war two. it's the image, status thing. and its the patriotic thing to do, buying a huge ford truck basically as a big fuck you to european small cars.

[jhulud]

"In the U S of A, we do everything bigger!"

[kurtz]

SUVs are stupid in the city or down south, but here in the central Pennsylvania countryside they can be necessary for some people. I know several people who need a 4WD vehicle just to get to and from their house in the winter.

[jhulud]

Around here, it's all suburbia for the most part. It's not like countryside is in some other areas of the state and the country. Whenever I see these huge SUV's I chuckle b/c they are so out of place.