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197 comments on DrumBeat: August 8, 2006

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shepseskaf on August 8, 2006 - 9:48am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Delusional, isn't it? And consumers are following their lead. The blind leading the blind...

Gas prices don't put brake on SUV sales

Funny, though, the skyrocketing gas prices don't appear to have much effect on the type of vehicles sold at local car dealerships.

Joe Spinola is sales manager at Bowser, a large multiline dealership in Pleasant Hills. He said few, if any, customers recently have mentioned gas prices when negotiating for a new car, truck or SUV -- and he doesn't expect that to change as prices top $3 for a gallon of super unleaded.

"I don't think customers who are interested in buying trucks or sport utility vehicles are even concerned with the price of gas, because if they were, they would be looking at buying a small car," Spinola said. "It's just not an issue like they say on TV." ... only 3 percent of respondents to a poll indicated that gasoline prices would factor into a decision about buying a certain type of car.
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odograph on August 8, 2006 - 9:53am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I think, or at least I hope, that one's a puff-piece to make local dealers (advertisers) happy.

Here's one pointing the other way:

Higher gas prices mean lower SUV sales

Smart Motors Inc., a Toyota dealership in Madison, has had a shift in buyer interest, too. Three years ago, about 3% of its yearly sales were gas-electric hybrid vehicles. Now, general manager Allen Foster said, hybrid sales account for 20% - one of every five vehicles sold.

But perhaps nothing spells out more clearly the impact of $3-plus gas than the July statistics from the National Automobile Dealers Association. Sales of large new SUVs were down 19% through the first seven months of 2006, and sales of new hybrid vehicles were up 27%.

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PaulS on August 8, 2006 - 2:13pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Not to burst your bubble, Odo, but it's a comparison that may not generalize well. On the one hand we're looking at what seems to be a typical affluent region (sprawl?) near Pittsburgh. On the other hand we're comparing it the somewhat self-righteous yuppie/professional but old-line region of Madison, Wisconsin close to the dealer, the sort of place where the houses are grand and old, the leafy curvy streets have sidewalks and are infested with speed bumps and "slow for kids" lawn signs, and despite all that, almost no one is walking (on most days of the year it's too hot, too cold, too rainy, or too icy.) And on the third hand - so much for that metaphor - Madison is sort of a Berkeley East to begin with.
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fleam on August 8, 2006 - 2:16pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Yeah I agree, it's Madison after all, of course they're going to be selling a ton of hybrids......
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odograph on August 8, 2006 - 2:24pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
That was a quick google for stats.  I'm pretty sure the national numbers are running pretty hard against SUVs right now ... this one is a little old, March  06:

US Sales of Full-Size SUVs Continued Decline in March

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fleam on August 8, 2006 - 2:31pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Yeah, SUV sales are tanking, thank God. I look forward to that if only because there will be a great gain in humor nationwide watching obese ex-SUV-owners get in and out of small cars lol!
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odograph on August 8, 2006 - 9:54am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
(SUVs aren't the only gas hogs out there these days though ... we won't know if the aggregate fleet MPG has really budged until the numbers come out.)
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