Informal survey

[jhetley]

I was contemplating the general castigation current on the auto industry, bemoaning "Detroit's" pig-headed management decision to concentrate on pickup truck and SUV production and letting Japan steal the small car market.  And then, as I walked to fetch the newspaper and back, I counted passing vehicles.

Over half the traffic on State Street consisted of light trucks and SUVs.  Usual carrying one person, the driver, and with no visible cargo.  Folks, "Detroit" was producing those dinosaurs because that was what the American Driver wanted to buy . . .

I'm old enough to remember small cars like the Nash Metropolitan, the Henry J, the Ford Falcon.  "Detroit" has tried to produce small, fuel-efficient cars through the decades.  They've flopped in the market.  Instead, we bought highway battleships like my family's 1957 Oldsmobile, with a big V-8 engine and automatic transmission. 

Or a Ford Expedition.  What percentage of SUVs ever leave the pavement, except in an accident?

Comments

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes, pavements. "Two countries divided by a common language."

GM, Chrysler, and Ford have all marketed small fuel-efficient cars, often manufactured in Europe or Japan by joint ventures. None has done as well here as Toyota, Honda, or Nissan. Brand expectations.

We drive Subarus because nobody else, until recently, has marketed a *small* all-wheel-drive. Those Maine winters . . .