Katrina has offically PISSED ME OFF!!!

I just want everyone to know i blame SD for this disaster...she made that hurricane come so we couldnt buy anymore SUV's..lol

 

Could Katrina kill the SUV? Sun Sep 11, 6:52 PM ET

 

DETROIT, United States (AFP) - Even before Hurricane Katrina tore through the southern United States, hampering a big chunk of the US oil industry, consumers were having second thoughts about gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles.

 

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Katrina could now hasten the demise of the SUV, at least in its current guise, after years in which it has ruled the roost over the world's biggest auto market, analysts believe.

 

With gasoline prices surpassing three dollars a gallon (3.78 liters), it now costs 100 dollars to fill up the tanks of large SUVs such as the Chevrolet Suburban used by President George W. Bush's Secret Service escort.

 

"Potentially, Katrina could signal the death knell of the SUV in as much as consumers are going to find themselves once burned, twice shy to buy such vehicles," Wachovia economist Jason Schenker said.

 

"High gas prices and the perceived fragility of the US energy sector are all likely to weigh on consumers' choices for years," he said.

 

Sales of big SUVs dropped dramatically in August, hurting both American and Japanese manufacturers, which have been trying to edge into the segment over the past five years.

 

The decrease came despite a fierce price war among the Detroit Big Three -- General Motors, Ford and Chrysler -- which have offered customers the same price on autos that their own employees pay.

 

"Hurricane Katrina was definitely a catalyst for gas prices but even before that we were facing an upward trend in prices," said Mike Chung, market analyst at auto website Edmunds.com.

 

"In response to that, consumers were beginning to look at other vehicles outside of large SUVs. The SUV boom has definitely changed. The whole segment has thinned out into several different segments," he said.

 

GM reported that despite its elite credentials, the Chevrolet Suburban saw sales drop 28 percent during August. Ford said sales of the full-size Ford Expedition plunged 40 percent.

 

Toyota Motor said sales of its heavily promoted Sequoia dropped 32 percent in August. Nissan reported sales of the Armada, which is built in a portion of Mississippi spared by Hurricane Katrina, fell seven percent.

 

Reviewing the August sales figures, analysts at Merrill Lynch said that Katrina could accelerate "consumers' natural migration away from large SUVs".

 

The big auto makers can see the writing on the wall. Ford plans to halt production of the giant Ford Excursion at the end of September.

 

"There is no question that the demand for traditional sport utility vehicles has been affected by rising gas prices," Steve Lyons, group vice president in charge of Ford sales and marketing in North America, said recently.

 

Consumers instead are now moving to both smaller SUVs and lighter, "crossover" vehicles that put the body of an SUV on to the more fuel-efficient chassis of a passenger car.

 

Paul Ballew, GM executive director of global market and industry analysis, said demand for big SUVs has leveled off as more consumers look for alternatives that get better mileage.

 

Government fuel efficiency and emissions standards are set to get tougher in the coming years, which could contribute to the drift away from SUVs.

 

Chung said: "You're seeing more consumer interest in alternative fuels like natural gas and diesel. In Europe it's already gained a lot of traction. And a lot of automakers are jumping on the hybrid bandwagon."

 

Some believe that hybrid cars, which are powered by a combination of gasoline and battery-generated electricity, could be the next big thing after the SUV craze.

 

"But hybrids are more likely to be a stop-gap for something further down the road like fuel-cell technology, which is at least 10 years away," Chung said.

 

 

I think Gas will eventually go down but i will be driving a "mini-van" then...

Honestly, I'm glad. I've never seen the point of them anyways. I've seen people with ONE child driving the GIANT Toyota Sequoia. WHY? WHAT DO YOU NEED A VEHICLE THAT BIG FOR? It is truly a waste. I'm looking at cars now, and I think I'm getting a VW Golf...Someone said to me, "But it's such a small car". It has FOUR doors. There's room for a car seat, plus a passenger, and there's a trunk to put things in. I'm having ONE child, not eight. What the HELL do I need a gas guzzler for? Even if I wanted one, I probably couldn't afford to drive one around with the fuel prices. Maybe this will knock some sense into the general public!

It was the late 80's and the squeeze was on the fuel industry. V8 production cars were a rarity. Fuel-misers were all the rage.

 

I recall a diahatsu handy-van that I used for 2 years. It was a 550 cc three cylinder dynamo. I really only bought it because it was low to the ground, and I could ride my three-wheel honda trike right into the back, and close the rear hatch on the back wheels. Didn't have to tie the trike down. Cheap to run, but a little scary to drive in heavy traffic.

 

Large cars made a comeback. I had a toyota troop-carrier for years. Man, did that car get respect on the road. Maybe that is what the attraction of big cars is on the roads? Respect? Like get the fuck outta my way, I'm coming through. Kinda hard to get that sorta respect when you are in a car that weighs only slightly more than the fuel tank in a V8 SUV.

 

The other claim is, that big cars are penis extensions for pin-dicks.

Doesn't matter to me. I am just getting a car anyways. I don't need anything huge.

Is it really a bad thing that this COULD, if allowed, force the market to allow for vehicles designed for alternative fuels? I have yet to meet the soccer mom who either needs or can safely DRIVE a monster truck. The only thing they are good for is for celebs to load them up with crap and show them of on MTV cribs. There has also been a push for solar power on new homes and windmill farms off the east coast. Would it be so bad if this pushed it along? Perhaps someof the technology being researched at the moment will actually be funded and braught to consumers. Katrina may be the one thing that forces the US to seek self sufficiency over forign oil dependence

well see i have 4 kids...SUV's are like the shit for us but now its mini vans r us...I love an suv..we look like fuckin old foggies when we get our mini. But its all good...Trucks still are out there so...thats our next truck purchase

I just want everyone to know i blame SD for this disaster...she made that hurricane come so we couldnt buy anymore SUV's..lol

 

 

 

oh. my. god. will you guys both please just shut up about each other? I don't care if it's "jokes" or not, you'll guys end up crawling each others asses again, over nothing.

 

just give it up. I don't care if you hate her, but if she's so irrelevant to you, just leave her alone and pretend she doesn't exist. she's hardly around anyways. at least take a shot to her face (no, i'm not saying your just to blame).

 

take a leaf out of a stereotypical canadian's book. smoke some weed. chillax, and peace.

 

truly suv's are so inefficient right now. how you can afford to drive one is beyond me. i have trouble paying for my subaru car right now.

truly suv's are so inefficient right now. how you can afford to drive one is beyond me. i have trouble paying for my subaru car right now.

 

Honestly I feel like it's a waste for most people regardless of fuel prices. But-we are in America. The land of gluttony.

The cars with CRAP gas mileage are the ones creating the demand and therefore setting the price. If you have an SUV and no real need for the damn thing then it's YOUR fault!