xcel
11-07-2006, 07:35 AM
When gas cost $1.50 a gallon, families with one kid were buying 7,000-pound Chevy Tahoes. When gas hit $3 a gallon, those buyers ran screaming from large SUVs. ( http://www.forbesautos.com/news/headlines/2006/november/fdc110206-selling.html)
Jonathan Fahey - Forbes - Nov 2, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/MB_M_Class_SUV.jpg
Mercedes-Benz 12% sales gain was powered by a 70% surge in Mercedes SUV sales. There's a vehicle everyone needs: A luxury SUV.
A strange thing seems to be happening on auto dealer lots across the nation: People are buying the cars they need.
OK, so no one needs a Hummer H2 or a Porsche 911 Turbo, yet they still find very happy buyers every month. But the large-SUV bust and the large-pickup slump may be over.
"We're not seeing that flood of customers exiting, and that's a plus," said General Motors sales analyst Paul Bellew while announcing October sales Wednesday. "We've taken off the intense pressure."
When gas cost $1.50 a gallon, families with one kid were buying 7,000-pound Chevy Tahoes. Then, this spring, when gas hit $3 a gallon without an accompanying hurricane, those buyers ran screaming from large SUVs.
A similar, if less drastic, cycle affected big pickup sales. With interiors as comfortable as those in luxury cars, drivers were buying big pickups for their commutes to their desk jobs. They also reconsidered this spring.
But now sales of these big rigs seem to be finding their level, though one much lower than in the heady days of super-cheap gas. Now it is families with four kids and a Boston Whaler who are buying the 7,000-pound SUVs, and people who need to carry a bed full of gravel around town who are buying pickups.
General Motors' sales of light trucks, including SUVs, surged 33 percent in October, albeit compared with a disastrous October of 2005. Car sales fell 3 percent, and overall sales rose 17 percent. Retail sales of Chevy Tahoes rose 92 percent, while Suburban sales jumped 64 percent. Chevy Silverado sales were up 79 percent, helped by newly redesigned pickups, which started arriving at dealerships in October.
At Ford Motor, overall sales rose 9 percent on the strength of a 25 percent boost in car sales, led by sales of the company's trio of mid-size vehicles: the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ. Truck sales were about flat, but Ford's Expedition large SUV rose 41 percent, and the Lincoln Navigator rose 44 percent. F-Series pickup sales were up 3 percent.
Toyota Motor sales grew 9 percent in the month, helped by a 16 percent jump in truck and SUV sales.
DaimlerChrysler's U.S. sales fell 1.6 percent, as a 3.2 percent drop in Chrysler Group sales were offset by a Mercedes-Benz 12 percent sales gain, which was powered by a 70 percent surge in Mercedes SUV sales. Now there's a vehicle everyone needs: A luxury SUV.
Jonathan Fahey - Forbes - Nov 2, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/MB_M_Class_SUV.jpg
Mercedes-Benz 12% sales gain was powered by a 70% surge in Mercedes SUV sales. There's a vehicle everyone needs: A luxury SUV.
A strange thing seems to be happening on auto dealer lots across the nation: People are buying the cars they need.
OK, so no one needs a Hummer H2 or a Porsche 911 Turbo, yet they still find very happy buyers every month. But the large-SUV bust and the large-pickup slump may be over.
"We're not seeing that flood of customers exiting, and that's a plus," said General Motors sales analyst Paul Bellew while announcing October sales Wednesday. "We've taken off the intense pressure."
When gas cost $1.50 a gallon, families with one kid were buying 7,000-pound Chevy Tahoes. Then, this spring, when gas hit $3 a gallon without an accompanying hurricane, those buyers ran screaming from large SUVs.
A similar, if less drastic, cycle affected big pickup sales. With interiors as comfortable as those in luxury cars, drivers were buying big pickups for their commutes to their desk jobs. They also reconsidered this spring.
But now sales of these big rigs seem to be finding their level, though one much lower than in the heady days of super-cheap gas. Now it is families with four kids and a Boston Whaler who are buying the 7,000-pound SUVs, and people who need to carry a bed full of gravel around town who are buying pickups.
General Motors' sales of light trucks, including SUVs, surged 33 percent in October, albeit compared with a disastrous October of 2005. Car sales fell 3 percent, and overall sales rose 17 percent. Retail sales of Chevy Tahoes rose 92 percent, while Suburban sales jumped 64 percent. Chevy Silverado sales were up 79 percent, helped by newly redesigned pickups, which started arriving at dealerships in October.
At Ford Motor, overall sales rose 9 percent on the strength of a 25 percent boost in car sales, led by sales of the company's trio of mid-size vehicles: the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ. Truck sales were about flat, but Ford's Expedition large SUV rose 41 percent, and the Lincoln Navigator rose 44 percent. F-Series pickup sales were up 3 percent.
Toyota Motor sales grew 9 percent in the month, helped by a 16 percent jump in truck and SUV sales.
DaimlerChrysler's U.S. sales fell 1.6 percent, as a 3.2 percent drop in Chrysler Group sales were offset by a Mercedes-Benz 12 percent sales gain, which was powered by a 70 percent surge in Mercedes SUV sales. Now there's a vehicle everyone needs: A luxury SUV.