The news that General Motors is going to stop producing a lot of cars has created a lot of confusion, making it appear that GM is near failure. In fact, this announcement parallels a similar one from Ford earlier this year and one from Chrysler in 2016: all three companies are focusing on SUVs and other truck-like vehicles rather than cars. The main difference was that GM, unlike Ford and Chrysler, accompanied its announcement with a list of several factories that it planned to close.
The reality is that Americans have good reasons to prefer SUVs over cars, and GM, Ford, and Chrysler are simply responding to market demand. One of the most important advantages SUVs have is comfort: because they are taller, they have a higher hip point or H-point, meaning riders are sitting upright with their feet well below their hips instead of sticking out in front of them.
Before World War II, most cars had a high hip point, and it wasn’t until after the war that low-hip-point popular vehicles (as opposed to sports cars) were pioneered by Studebaker and Kaiser. Curiously, the vehicle regarded as the first SUV, the Willys Jeep station wagon, was also made by Kaiser for many years.
The second advantage of SUVs may be even more important: visibility. Again, because the vehicles are taller, drivers can see further down the road, plus they can often see over the tops of many cars.
The effectiveness of this medication encourages millions of men to avail the treatment, while the expensive prices of cheapest viagra price kept thousands of sufferers deprived of treatment. Often women ignore their reproductive health with a reason that they offer generic options to brand medications, their charge is usually as low as 80% less. viagra online in canada You should not take more than one pill a day; discover that cialis usa keep a gap of at least 24 hours between the dosages. *Consult your doctor immediately if you Experience any sort of side effects such as headaches, flushing, upset stomach, visual problem etc. At times it may well be unavoidable. bargain prices orden viagra viagra Some people say that SUVs also have a higher center of gravity and so are more likely to roll over. However, most SUVs today are equipped with vehicle-stability control and similar technologies that significantly reduce the potential for rollover and similar accidents.
On the other hand, some people say that people prefer SUVs because their occupants are more likely to survive being struck by larger vehicles. I’m not convinced that’s necessarily true (many small cars are very safe), but I suspect most auto buyers are more concerned about the day-to-day stresses of driving than the remote possibility of a serious accident, so the visibility factor is a higher priority for them.
Because they are taller, SUVs tend to be less fuel-efficient than cars. However, the emergence of crossover vehicles — vehicles with many SUV characteristics that are also fairly aerodynamic — has reduced this difference. Historically, when gas prices are stable, Americans have increasingly tilted to SUVs and other truck-like vehicles, and gas prices appear to be very stable today.
In any case, the decisions of major automakers to stop making vehicles that people aren’t buying shouldn’t be regarded as a sign of economic troubles. It is simply a reflection of changing technologies and consumer preferences.
Older people’s hips appreciate higher H-points and younger people like high seats to get their toddlers in and out of their car seats. CUVs also have the advantage of a hatchback.
Step-Down: The 1948-1954 Hudsons
My 82-year-old mother just bought a CUV so she could ferry my 96-year-old aunt around. The higher H-point was the one non-negotiable criterion for her search. And this trend is only going to increase as we get closer to driverless cars. Already, the new safety features available are likely enough to extend the driving age another couple years – I know that I’m glad that mom’s new car has the latest collision mitigation systems. The number of superannuated drivers is only going to increase.
The good news: better visibility. The bad: you’re more likely to die if you get nailed by one.
http://www.governing.com/topics/transportation-infrastructure/gov-SUV-rise-pedestrian-deaths.html
Interesting and honest article, Mr. Brough:
Part of the reason for the increase is that SUVs continue to make up a bigger share of the vehicles that Americans drive.
I suspect that AVs will have both high H-points and much reduced pedestrian-vehicle death and injury rates. AVs will have the same passenger geometry of today’s AVs although since the vast majority will be shared most people won’t care what they look like.
Psychosomatically people think SUV’s are safer. They’re wrong both statistically and engineering wise.
Large SUVs like the Tahoe and Expedition feel weighty, it’s natural for people to feel safe in them. But the vehicles are top heavy their frames aren’t as crash absorbing as initially thought. They pose the greatest risk of tipover. As for visibility…..SUV’s have excellent forward visibility but some given their shape and considerable length are terrible elsewhere.
– Jeeps have a reputation for being tough, gritty off-road vehicles, but Wrangler is one of the most dangerous cars on the road. Its 27.9% chance of rolling over is worst among all SUVs, while the its poor ratings for side crash tests and visibility make the two-door model even worse than the four-door version. Marginals head and small front overlap crash tests should only add to the fright consumers have for this vehicle.
SUV’s are responsible for more and more pedestrian deaths……..though that’s quantitative there’s more SUV’s than ever before so naturally more likely people would be hit by them. But their poor braking and increased mass makes them more dangerous. Cars are lower to the ground, so the likely result of a car hitting someone is they get scooped up by the aerodynamic hood and slam the windshield. A blocky and higher SUV is more likely to slam head on or worse run over the victim. And psychologically SUV drivers think they own the road………because they encompass so much of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx2cS6LXyUk
Second, GM and Ford’s scale down of conventional cars is not just “responding to market demands” it’s the end throws of financial desperation. This happens every fucking time. Every 5-10 years SUV’s and Big trucks go through a cycle from Selling like hot cake sales to dinosaurs no one wants in their drive way. When gas is cheap SUV’s crank out faster than newspapers. When gas goes up a mere few cents, you find For Sale signs on every SUV on the side of the road. When SUV sales plummet, small car sales rise…and the foreign automakers are really good at making small cars that are not only fuel efficient and relatively inexpensive….but excellent build quality and aesthetically stylish. Meanwhile Detroit is laughed at with their ridiculous toaster wagons. Ford Focus, Fiesta, Chevy Spark. Meanwhile Toyota has the Carolla, Mazda’s 3 series, Hyundai’s Accent, Honda’s Civic. As Ford and GM scale back their car vehicles…Toyota has Seven DIFFERENT ONES on the market. Including the best selling Camry and not to mention their Lexus subsidiary.
Other than the Fusion, Ford has no Hybrids on the market, Toyota has half a dozen. Honda will have three, Chevy has one. The fact is for the price of the hybrid, they are excellent fuel sippers. The difference in price among the Toyota Rav4 and the Rav4 hybrid is 3,000 dollars; considering the Average American pays 2,000 a year for gas, it’ll pay for itself in traffic. So once again Detroit is at it again; and they’ll be back in the same boat in a less than a decade either begging Washington for help or cranking out ugly hatchbacks.
All I see is SUV owners looking for excuses.. “but I live in the country side”, “but It’s safer”, “but the roads are bad”, ” but I need boot space and space for people “etc etc. All of which are BS. I am sure that for some people in very specific situations the SUV is the dream solution. People who daily ( or at least once a week ) actually need to transport 5 people and a trunk full of material. People who are very tall and sencerely need the extra head space. People who actually need to drive off terrain more than once a year ) To those people I say go crazy, I understand. To all others hiding behind these excuses driving around alone through a city center I say grow a pair. At least have the balls to admit that you don’t drive one because you “need the extra space” or because “they are safer” or ” I live near a field and have to take a country road so I need an AWD”. You own an SUV for the same reason some people own an impractical sportscar or a convertable in a rainy country. You own an SUV because you think it gives you standing. “Look at my big expensive car”. You own an SUV because you simply like it, because it is popular, because your next door neighbor has one and your car can’t be smaller than his..Point is, Probably 90% of SUV owners don’t need one. They’re more expensive to fuel, own, operate and repair than most cars nowadays. There is no shame in buying something you simply like. But don’t go around making excuses. Grow up and simply admit that you chose to buy something you don’t actually need.
You own an SUV for…
…the ease of entry and exit, its excellent visibility, and its roomy practicality. Today’s unibody SUVs have the same interior geometry as a 1955 Chevrolet sedan and get far better fuel mileage. Just a cursory glance at EPA’s mileage website shows CUVs getting close to the fuel mileage as the sedans they’re based on, Civic, Fit, and Corolla. Of course they would: they’re just taller versions of those low-slung sedans.
@ LazyReader: “All I see is SUV owners looking for excuses.”
Everything you say plus “Better them than me”.
“At least have the balls to admit…”
I have the balls to admit that I bought a SUV because I wanted one. Do you have the balls to admit that it’s none of your business why I (or anyone else) bought the kind of car I/we did?
Bought my SUV because I’m 6’2, drive on Forest Service roads, in heavy rain storms, in snow, to camp, to carry my kayak, to haul fire wood, for the visibility, etc. It gets 30 mpg. Can’t do cars. But I don’t give a poop why others buy the cars they buy. None my damn biznass.
LazyReader, you’re claim that SUV owner’s aren’t honest is pathetically ironic. Such a claim by it’s nature is nothing but dishonest. Hallloween’s over. Stop dragging out the strawmen.