Posted: Jun. 04, 2008 11:06 a.m.
Pickup trucks and SUVs are hurting. In May sales numbers, the Ford F-150 was knocked from its perch as the best-selling vehicle in the U.S., and sent reeling all the way to the fifth spot. A glut of SUVs sits on used car lots, almost unsellable in today's market.
The New York Times reports that large trucks and SUVS that were "the first generation of mass-market …to approach the six-figure mark" in price are now selling for "much closer to $50,000."
Brent Robinson, sales manager of a GM dealership in Minnesota, told the Toronto Star "We haven't had anyone crack the door on a Yukon or a Denali in 30 days."
Is the death knell of the gas guzzler here?
Jack Nerad, executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book, told ABC News, "Up until now, we've said it's not dead. But right now, it's probably on life support." USA Today writes, "For a generation, pickups and SUVs have symbolized a rugged, oversized, no-holds-barred American lifestyle. Tuesday, automakers made it clear that consumers are hitting the brakes on their love affair with the hardiest, roomiest ** and thirstiest ** vehicles." According to USA Today, automakers expect the pickup truck to "trend back to its roots as the humble working partner of cowboys and contractors."
SUVs don't even have that working role to fall back on. So automakers are re-organizing, planning to de-emphasize SUVs and produce more of the small cars Americans are now buying.
The Chicago Tribune reports, "General Motors announced a bold attempt Tuesday to wean itself from a dependency on large SUVs…declaring that gasoline prices won't retreat and the company must sell more small cars, some battery powered." The automaker is closing four plants that make the large vehicles, and CEO Rick Wagoner has "said the future of the company's Hummer franchise is in review, with an overhaul of the military-style vehicle lineup or a complete or partial sale of the division possible."
GM has announced plans to rush a 40mpg small car to market as early as 2009, and hopes to introduce its Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid for the 2010 model year.
Ford Vice President for marketing told the Arizona Republic, "May was a watershed month. We are, as an industry, catching up with the breathtaking choices the consumers are now making."
While it considers re-tooling its own lineup, Ford is making an effort to move the F-150 off dealer lots. The New York Times notes that Ford has "announced an 'employee pricing' incentive plan on its F-Series pickup trucks that will allow customers to buy its trucks for the same price as the automaker's employees in June." Ford will bring its new Fiesta small car to America for the 2010 model year, but has not yet announced any plans to introduce more fuel-efficient vehicles for 2009.
"May was a watershed month. We are, as an industry, catching up with the breathtaking choices the consumers are now making."
This statement shows EXACTLY WHY the American auto industry is hurting right now! BREATHTAKING CHOICES??? Why should the choices we're making be considered "breathtaking?" Americans have been screaming for vehicles with higher gas mileage for years now!! HELLO!! Look how long the waiting lists were for the Prius, probably the 2nd. generation models a few years ago.........just as the price of gas was starting to go up again!
I guess it was "breathtaking" choices back in the early 80s when you couldn't GET an American-made car that was as dependable & reliable as the Japanese imports for the same money.
I remember getting into a very heated discussion with my brother-in-law once over the subject, because I REFUSED to buy another American-made car until they WOKE UP and started building quality cars again. They did........and I did! I now have a Chevy (camper) van, a Chevy Aveo, & a Mazda (Ford) B-3000 P/U........as well as my new smart fortwo. Although......how many American made-cars are still going strong (with their ORIGINAL engine/transmission, etc) at 300,000 miles or MORE, as a lot of Toyota, Volvo, & Mecedes cars are. Doesn't Volvo even have a Million Mile Club??
For at LEAST the last 5-10 yrs. now, the American auto industry has continued to push the sales of the HUGE SUVs, trucks, Hummers, and all the other GAS GUZZLERS!! Shouldn't it have been a "breathtaking" moment YEARS AGO when people were lined up to get a Prius, and the gasoline prices continued to rise?
It seems that the American auto industry has been the "caboose" for far too many years now, always bringing up the "rear". rather than being the "engine" and jumping out front! To continue to push the gas guzzlers down our throats until we finally said "ENOUGH", until they have all these vehicles on their lots that can't be sold, and they're having to close plants because of it.........that just speaks for itself!! I can't decide whether they just don't have the same "forward-thinking" ability that the Japanese & European auto industry folks do, or if they just have that "crack dealer" mentality of "as long as they keep buying the stuff, we'll keep selling it!" IMHO! Thanks for listening! ;)
Posted: Jun. 04, 2008 11:06 a.m.
Pickup trucks and SUVs are hurting. In May sales numbers, the Ford F-150 was knocked from its perch as the best-selling vehicle in the U.S., and sent reeling all the way to the fifth spot. A glut of SUVs sits on used car lots, almost unsellable in today's market.
The New York Times reports that large trucks and SUVS that were "the first generation of mass-market …to approach the six-figure mark" in price are now selling for "much closer to $50,000."
Brent Robinson, sales manager of a GM dealership in Minnesota, told the Toronto Star "We haven't had anyone crack the door on a Yukon or a Denali in 30 days."
Is the death knell of the gas guzzler here?
Jack Nerad, executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book, told ABC News, "Up until now, we've said it's not dead. But right now, it's probably on life support." USA Today writes, "For a generation, pickups and SUVs have symbolized a rugged, oversized, no-holds-barred American lifestyle. Tuesday, automakers made it clear that consumers are hitting the brakes on their love affair with the hardiest, roomiest ** and thirstiest ** vehicles." According to USA Today, automakers expect the pickup truck to "trend back to its roots as the humble working partner of cowboys and contractors."
SUVs don't even have that working role to fall back on. So automakers are re-organizing, planning to de-emphasize SUVs and produce more of the small cars Americans are now buying.
The Chicago Tribune reports, "General Motors announced a bold attempt Tuesday to wean itself from a dependency on large SUVs…declaring that gasoline prices won't retreat and the company must sell more small cars, some battery powered." The automaker is closing four plants that make the large vehicles, and CEO Rick Wagoner has "said the future of the company's Hummer franchise is in review, with an overhaul of the military-style vehicle lineup or a complete or partial sale of the division possible."
GM has announced plans to rush a 40mpg small car to market as early as 2009, and hopes to introduce its Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid for the 2010 model year.
Ford Vice President for marketing told the Arizona Republic, "May was a watershed month. We are, as an industry, catching up with the breathtaking choices the consumers are now making."
While it considers re-tooling its own lineup, Ford is making an effort to move the F-150 off dealer lots. The New York Times notes that Ford has "announced an 'employee pricing' incentive plan on its F-Series pickup trucks that will allow customers to buy its trucks for the same price as the automaker's employees in June." Ford will bring its new Fiesta small car to America for the 2010 model year, but has not yet announced any plans to introduce more fuel-efficient vehicles for 2009.
But as mounting gasoline/diesel prices prevailed, it really was the only way to open up many peoples thoughts to alternatives to skirting around the country blowing away a precious resource like we had billions of barrels of it left.
I am very glad to see this trend finally get legs.
why are the only good looking cars comming from over seas,I haven't owned a ford in more than 20 years ,I might buy that one,I love my smart and my mercedes ,I'd never give either of them up
why are the only good looking cars comming from over seas,I haven't owned a ford in more than 20 years ,I might buy that one,I love my smart and my mercedes ,I'd never give either of them up
The bigger and deep-rooted the organization (OEMs, in this case), the slower they adapt to the marketplace. You get layers of self-serving dinosaur-era bureaucrats who are as swift-footed as sloths. GM and Ford have been trying since the '70s to create 'import fighters' (I worked with GM on some of these projects back then). They came up with a greed-based way to sell expensive SUVs to a me-too mindless public, but then failed to protect their backside when the public became the victim of its own gullibility and suddenly stopped buying the behemoths. (D'oh!) GM and Ford are getting exactly what they deserve.
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Thanks for listening! ;)
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