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Cars like Toyota’s fuel-efficient Yaris and hybrid electric car Prius have seen declines in online searches according to Cars.com (http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=161600&srvc=home)

Jay Fitzgerald - Boston Herald - Oct. 10, 2006

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2007_Toyota_Sequoia.jpg
Toyota’s 8-passenger Seqouia SUV (EPA 15/17) are selling now that gas prices have fallen.

Seems like it was just a few months ago that Americans were looking to buy fuel efficient cars.

It was.

What a difference a drop in the price of gas can make.

As gas prices have tumbled in recent weeks, consumer interest in gas-guzzling SUVs is making a comeback. And interest in hybrids and other fuel-efficient vehicles appears to be dropping.

“Sales have definitely turned the corner,” said David Melkonian, sales manager at Sudbury’s Land Rover Metrowest, where sales were off by about 25 percent when gas prices were hovering in the $3 range this past summer.

Now that gas is going for about $2.26 a gallon, Melkonian said, customers are coming back.

Cars.com reported yesterday that online shoppers last month were more interested in bigger new cars - such as Hyundai Santa Fe, Jeep Wrangler and the Cadillac CTS, based on Web searches.

As for used cars, even the Hummer H2 and Hummer H3 - the road hog of all road hogs - have seen a dramatic increase in the number of people entering searches for those models, Cars.com said.

Meanwhile, Toyota’s fuel-efficient Yaris and hybrid electric car Prius have seen declines in online searches, Cars.com said.

“The recent drop in gasoline prices shows once again that consumers have a short memory when it comes to the effect gas prices have on their shopping behavior,” said Patrick Olsen, editor of Cars.com, in a statement.

Not everyone is seeing a shift in sales behavior.

Tom O’Brien, owner of Tom O’Brien Hyundai in Quincy and Danvers, said that just yesterday - on a normally busy Columbus Day - two customers traded in a beefy Lincoln Navigator for a four-cylinder Sonata and a Ford Explorer for a smaller Tuscon SUV.

“I’m betting they’ll keep chasing smaller cars,” said O’Brien.

Craig Carlson, an auto consultant at Strategic Innovation, agreed. “I think the days of (dominant SUV) sales are over,” he said.

Mike Hills, general manager at Acton Toyota, said he’s seeing a little bit of both trends.

Larger vehicles - such as Toyota’s 8-passenger Seqouia SUV - are selling well now that gas prices are falling. But the interest in fuel-efficient cars remains quite strong.

A lot of people with a case of short-term memory...

Are we a race of idiots?

Wait, don't answer that...

I have this sadistic wish that the H2 was a 20-year commitment. :p

Hi Chuck:

___The Sequoia, Excursion, Suburban, and Durango are not that much more fuel efficient if at all either …

___Good Luck

___Wayne

The Sequoia, Excursion, Suburban, and Durango are not that much more fuel efficient if at all either

Unfortunately the list of sub 20mpg vehicles is long. While my wish of making a purchase of such vehicles is edgy, it would also be to get them to think about future energy prices. Gas guzzler sales are up because people are not thinking about the future.

A lot of people with a case of short-term memory...The only worse than people with short-term memory is people with short-term forethought. As soon as gas prices go up again next summer or sooner, all those people will be crying about how much it costs to fill up their behemoths.

Hi All:

___We have not seen any real sales numbers with an average price of $2.30 per so do not sell the American public short just yet. Secondly, why is our community up in arms with the supposedly low $2.30 per gallon gasoline on average across the country today? When Gasoline went above $2.00 per a year and a half ago, I was ticked. Gasoline at $2.20 at the local Shell still bothers me and I for one would never consider a gas guzzler at $2.20 with the prospects of seeing $3.50 + within just a few years. I think the American public will look at the SUV’s and behemoths but will purchase the compacts and B-Class sized sub’s in ever greater numbers as time moves forward. Just thinking about filling a 30 gallon tank every two weeks at $70.00 + has to scare even the richest SOB into thinking $2.30 per is not a bargain by any stretch.

___Then again, I do not know if anyone is watching the futures on the home page but crude and RFG/Straight gasoline had another nice dip over the past 2 days. Toyota is advertising HSD equipped hybrids like I have never seen before in the Chicago area. These two items together might be the break some have been waiting for wrt actually being able to deal on a hybrid vs. the BS MSRP and MSRP + prices most have had to put up with these last 2 to 3 years?

___Good Luck

___Wayne

A lot of people with a case of short-term memory...

I know two-year olds with a longer attention span :mad:

What do they day? The United States of Amnesia?

What do they day? The United States of Amnesia?

Excellent quote here. This just boils my blood to see. Why don't people learn?

The problem is, we have gas; it's just expensive. During the energy crisis of the mid/late 70's, we didn't have gas. Makes ya think twice.

Going back more than a year ago, families drove station wagons instead of Suburbans, and had engines that had about half the horsepower of today's typical vehicle - that must be the Stone Age! :p :eek:

Going back more than a year ago, families drove station wagons instead of Suburbans, and had engines that had about half the horsepower of today's typical vehicle - that must be the Stone Age! :p :eek:

Like my first car, mid-80s Volvo station wagon with 114hp, 128lb-ft of torque. On a good day. Can you imagine trying to sell a car like that today? It was perfectly adequate but would never fly. FE was in the mid 20s, and broke 30 at least once.

For some reason I always picture a Rocky and Bullwinkle style animation, with a Mr. MaGoo type character, hunched over, looking at the ground, plodding forward across the ground. Anytime the ground inclines, he complains. Anytime the ground descends, he's content, unable and unwilling to do anything but plod along without looking ahead or behind him.

Actually, I do give the behemoth drivers some credit. I have no idea how anyone can successfully park a H2 or an Excursion without several tries, especially when usually there's an SUV or a minivan parked around them. Living in Metro-Detroit, I usually see at least one Hummer on the road (Though I also generally see a Prius too!), and I had heard from an owner that now that gas prices have gone down, it's under a $100 to fill up. :eek:

I have about 1000 of my "free fuel" flyers left after Altwheels,
since the weather kept the numbers of people coming through the
venue fairly low. I figure I'll wait till after Nov 7, and then
start dropping stacks of them off in libraries, grocery stores,
the local gym, etc... when people will actually pay attention
because pump prices will be up over $3 again.
.
_H*