Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2002 13:27:30 GMT From: Bob <uctraingLOWSPAMnopsamanet.com> Subject: Re: gas prices
On Thu, 11 Apr 2002 09:45:36 +0100, Johannes H Andersen <johsnopsamanytime.co.uk> wrote: >Small trucks are also >very popular in the US, why? They have terrible petrol consumption. I think >they sell more trucks in the US than ordinary cars. They still sell more cars, but trucks and SUV's are capturing an ever increasing share of the market. Most of the buyers do not need a truck, but they buy one anyway. Some of the reasons are "status" oriented. Mostly, though, it's an old tradition. You see, back before the 70's, bigger cars were always better cars. After all, bigger is always better, right ? Big car, big house, big boat, etc. But, when cars started to get smaller, you had to buy smaller. What was macho guy to do ? (Those of us who drive sport "forin cars" were looked on as un-macho freaks with a screw loose in their head). Well, the answer for some was to buy a pickup truck - big boys have big toys. But, a pickup truck was totally impractical for most daily use (unless you really needed a truck, lets leave those folks out). But then, someone put a cap on the pickup truck, the manufacturers introduced these bastardized trucks with rear seats, and it caught on. Soon we had luxury creeping in, and everyone wanted one ! Few of these SUV's go off the road or do anything truck like. I'll admit that there are some folks that actually use it to tow something or haul something, but they are the exception, not the rule. The only consolation is that folks have started to realize how impractical these vehicles are for most drivers. The latest trend is to a vehicle halfway between a station wagon and an SUV (think like Subaru). So, eventually this SUV trend will die, and the status will be a 4WD/AWD vehicle with some reasonable semblance of handling and gas mileage. Bob Not all the trucks are >used for their intended purpose. Speaking of trucks, did u see boxer Chris >Ubank's giant US type of truck (front part only, what's called?), he uses it >as his daily transport and presumably gets a loads of attention. > >Johannes
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