Sales of Trucks, SUVs Rise

[OhioChick]

Purchases of the gas guzzlers rise 5.4% from a year earlier. The gains help Ford reclaim its No. 2 spot in the U.S.
By Martin Zimmerman, Times Staff Writer
October 4, 2006


Sales of pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles rebounded in September, automakers reported Tuesday, helped by heavy showroom incentives and a sharp decline in gasoline prices.

"The biggest trend that emerged this September was the relative revival of the mid-sized SUV and light-truck segments," said Jesse Toprak, an analyst at auto data firm Edmunds.com.

That was good news for beleaguered Ford Motor Co., which is in the midst of a painful restructuring. Ford posted a 5.3% rise in car and light-truck sales last month, according to Autodata Corp., boosted by gains in its flagship F-Series pickup line and Explorer SUV.

The increase helped Ford reclaim — if just barely — its traditional No. 2 position in the U.S. auto market. Ford sold 223,033 vehicles in September. Toyota Motor Corp., which finished ahead of Ford in July and August, sold 222,950.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-autos4oct04,0,5329074.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Apparently, many believe that gas prices will not rise again...??

[Kutjara]

1. So many people are like wheat.

The wind blows one way, they bend that way. The wind blows another, they bend that way, with no more thought or planning than a stalk of grain. What outraged or frightened them last month is completely forgotten this month, as if it had never been. Docile, placid, waving in the breeze, they patiently await the scythe.

[soup]

4. Or, like my son, they really needed a new truck for work

and took advantage of the 0% interest, etc., to trade in an older gas guzzler for a new model with a better mileage rating.

edit to add - Love the way you worded your post. Nicely done.

[Kutjara]

7. For every one who really needs a truck,

I'd guess there are five who never put anything bigger than a beer cooler in the back. I drive a lot for work and the vast majority of trucks I see on the roads during my daily rounds are empty, save for one 'macho-man' in the driver's seat.

[TheCowsCameHome]

17. Besides, the rear window is nice and wide to show the gun rack

Testosterone on the move..............

[sendero]

15. Nice...

... and I agree. The temporary lull in gas prices is probably the basis for this. Very temporary.

[TheCowsCameHome]

19. About equal to the attention span of a small puppy......

[allisonthegreat]

24. boy..the fickle consumer

One minute they can't buy a truck/SUV because of gas and then they are purchasing them again. oh well...so much for a green economy.

[Kolesar]

2. Higher now because Sept 2005 was really bad

Ford and GM both benefited from favorable comparisons with September 2005, when their sales fell by double digits in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the end of a summer-long employee-price promotion.

[WCGreen]

11. Excellent point that is never fleshed out by those reporting ...

[susanna]

37. The employee pricing incentives of 2005 (thanks, GM!)...

...were insane. Many folks within the industry saw THAT and tried to warn those in power, but alas...

You cannot improve, year-over-year, when exactly one year before you were selling vehicles at what was essentially a loss. (Not completely, OK - but close.)

Anyway, they made that bed, they're lying in it, and I am willing to bet you they think twice before trying that stunt again. Wall Street loves year-over-year reporting, and the domestics are getting nailed because of last year's incentive programs and the fire sale that ensued.

My .02, and yes, I work in the industry.

on edit: oops

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Suckers.

short-sighted, blinded-by-the-gas, greenhouse-gas-lovin' idiots.

[unpossibles]

5. seriously!

GEE! GAS WILL NEVR GO UP AGIN!!1!

[liberal N proud]

6. That false sense of security on the falling gas prices

These morons know not what the bu$h regime has in store for them come November.

[0007]

8. Take away their remote control and they'll go to war......

[YankeyMCC]

9. This is depressing

when will the American public get outraged? What will it take to get the people to realize the danger of this lifestyle to the planet and therefore human and all other life on the planet?

arrggg!!

[Nihil]

12. Never

> when will the American public get outraged?

> What will it take to get the people to realize the danger of this
> lifestyle to the planet and therefore human and all other life on
> the planet?

Nothing. The people who are rushing out to buy cheap SUVs are too
stupid to realise that the problem is *them*, not someone else.

They will die before they ever wake up to the truth.

[YankeyMCC]

14. Discussion with my brother in law

I just recently purchased a Prius. While showing it to my brother in law we got to talking about possibilities for him when the time comes for him to get a replacement car. They currently own a Minivan. They have two kids and my sister sells usborne books so she needs cargo room. But I showed him the Prius, clearly they could easily fit the two kids and her sales stuff. Maybe on occasion she'd have to take one or both of the car seats out to fit her stuff for a particularly large event.

But he was still hemming and hawing and then he says, "Well we need the space for camping."

I take my family camping several times a year. Once a year my sister and her family come with us for a week. I point this out to him, "You only go camping once a year. Rent something."

"Do you know how much that would cost?"

That's unfortunately how people think. The think they have to have the maximum for the rare use-case instead of the typical daily use-case. They don't want even a minor inconvenience (like taking out the car seats, which is easy in the Prius by the way). And they only look at the short term cost. He was worried about the cost of renting a larger vehicle for a week instead of the cost of gas, larger car payment, damage to the environment etc..of driving a larger less energy efficient vehicle.

[AndyTiedye]

26. He Could Get a Hybrid SUV

This one is even union-made in the USA:


We also have a Prius, but there are some places a Prius wasn't meant to go.

Can you say "ground clearance"?

[YankeyMCC]

27. That is at least an improvement

but really the point is he Doesn't NEED a vehicle like that except for a few days once a year. My point is why pay more for a large vehicle every single day of the year (gas, maintenance, initial cost, etc) just because you're worried about an extra $300 to your vacation budget? The larger unnecessarily large vehicle will almost certainly cost you more than that annually.

[AndyTiedye]

28. Though if You Actually Use an SUV for the Purposes They Are Intended For

you would probably violate the rental agreements at most of the car rental companies.
Almost all of them require you to stay on paved roads, even if the vehicle you are
renting has 4-wheel-drive and high ground clearance and other off-roadish properties.

If you break down off-road, or if the car rental company uses GPS tracking,
you could get hit for a bunch of extra charges by the rental company.

Some of the car rental companies around here use this to stick it to
people who take their rentals to Burning Man.

[susanna]

38. Now THIS is straight on, YankeeMCC...

"They think they have to have the maximum for the rare use-case instead of the typical daily use-case."

Marketing 101. Make people think it is a requirement, not just the icing on the cake! Automakers have done a bang-up job of that.

My husband and I own a 1993 VW Fox, 1993 Ford Ranger and 2000 Econoline Van. We have YET to need more room than one of those provide unless we're moving someone. The itty-bitty Fox handles all my groceries each week; the Ranger and/or Econoline haul the lumber and other home improvement items we require. The Ranger alone can handle about six sheets of 4x8 plywood! Added to that, we have MOVED 90% of a family member's stuff from one house to another using a shuttle between the Ranger and Econoline. The remaining 10%? We rent a U-Haul for 2-3 hours to move the heavy stuff (furniture, appliances).

People want that "just in case" instead of realizing that "just in case" is exactly when you should spend the extra money to rent, as it happens that rarely.

Ah well...

on edit: clarity

[we can do it]

10. All I Can Say Is This Country Is Full of Idiotic Sheep

Who refuse to think for themselves, lazy morons. It's a shame.

[robcon]

13. This country is not full of idiotic sheep, wecandoit.

This country is full of citizens who react to facts differently from you.

I think your condescending tone sucks.

[alarimer]

18. Yes it is

Idiotic, pathetic morons. By Christmas they'll be whining agains about how much gas costs.
gas prices go down,sales of SUVs and Bush's approval ratings go up. How much more idiotic could they be?? They just sit on their fat asses watching tv and falling for all the marketing gimmicks.

[DrunkenMaster]

23. Bwahahaaaaa...heeheeeheee

Oh, wait, you were serious.....oh, shit. SEEK HELP.

[fudge stripe cookays]

32. All I can say is...

wake the fuck up.

We have fewer population than many other other countries on the globe, and we create like HALF the environmental waste from these behemoths.

Most Americans ARE sheep, and they will continue to be sheep until they are violently woken out of their stupor by revolution, currency drop, famine, or some other nasty fallout from all this.

[TheCowsCameHome]

16. So Ford will keep building those behemoths for the huddled masses.

And take another hit after the elections when gas prices make their way back up.

They will never learn.

[Javaman]

20. I had predicted this...

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Javaman/75

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

21. Because people are complete and utter idiots

with memories shorter than your average pile of mud.

:banghead:

[DrunkenMaster]

22. Yeeeeehaaw! The American Idiot Rides Again!

You can't tell me it isn't my god-given RIGHT to ride around in a truck that gets 13 mpg and emits more CO2 that Rush Limbuagh's backside after Chili Night at the stripclub! I don't care that the ice caps are melting, I don't think at all about the future or the geopolitical situation in the Middle East, why? 'Cuz I'm WHITE, PRIVILEDGED AND DUMB AS FUCK.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

25. Largely due to the 0% interest and factory price incentives, perhaps?

I've not spoken to one person who doesn't expect gas prices to go back up.

[AndyTiedye]

29. And Extending Credit to REALLY BAD Credit Risks

The Repo Man is gonna have a field day in a year or so.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

30. That's right

Ford did a "no matter how bad your credit, you qualify for 0% interest," promo. I almost forgot.

[AndyTiedye]

31. They're Even Giving 0% For the Hybrid. I'm Surprised At That

[EnviroBat]

33. F.U.V.

Fucking Unnecessary Vehicle

[Anakin Skywalker]

34. Yay! A few cents drop in gas price is a MIRACLE!

Time to spend again! "The economy is (f*cking) strong" - G.W. Bush

[VegasWolf]

35. There is no "misunderestimating" the raw stupidity of the unwashed

public.

[Anakin Skywalker]

36. Are These the Very Same Idiots Who Assaulted

gas station owners and threw hot coffee at some poor clerks (true, reported in various newspapers) over the high gas prices just a few months back???