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Old 03-13-2010, 01:10 AM   #9 (permalink)
5speed5
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Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Los Alamos, NM
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TBSS - '08 Chevrolet Trailblazer SS 2WD
90 day: 19.36 mpg (US)

Wife's car - '09 Chevrolet Impala SS
90 day: 22.96 mpg (US)

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Quote:
Originally Posted by capn View Post
I can see why Oil companies may not like to see more efficient cars, but why the automakers? I would think that having more FE cars would make more people want to buy them.

I don't see how it relates, you might want to expand on that for me.
Well, up through the 90's and before 2007, SUVs provided the automakers a much larger profit margin due to the demand, the image, the luxury, and the sheer size. That's still true, but less so due to the price of gas.
Small cars, on the other hand, have to have a razor thin profit margin because the market for them is people who shop economy.
Up until gas hit $4/gal, SUVs were what the companies wanted to sell. The reason that they have any small cars at all is 1) to balance out the SUVs for CAFE and 2) to try to gain new driver brand loyalty.
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