Quote:
Originally Posted by RH77
I read an article in a car rag that longtime vehicle buyers who bought SUVs, previously drove RWD Olds Cutlasses, Monte Carlos, and Ford Rancheros. Smaller, FWD cars came along just (conveniently) when trucks and SUVs offered more amenities and performance. It's the "V8/RWD Generation". Further, these older folks are hard to convince that smaller, more efficient cars are indeed safe, can have a level of refinement, and even offer performance at the same time.
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Passing over that crack about "older folks", that's only looking at a small slice of the car market. Take for instance the '60s: there were some people who bought the big Ford Galaxies and Lincolns that were being made, but there were also a bunch buying smaller cars like the original Mustang and the Falcon, even as some people were buying the funky imported VW Beetles, and kids like me wanted the MGs and Austin-Healeys. And nobody ever even thought about whether any particular car or style was "safe".
Move on to the '70s: smog controls got added, and gas shortages happened. Domestic automakers responded with the familiar chorus of "but we can't do that, it's too expensive", and started beefing up their products while introducing a few smaller ones, like the Pinto and Chevy Vega, that were full of design & quality-control problems. The imports kept on coming: they just worked, and people bought them - and I finally got that Austin-Healey and a few others, but by then really wanted a Porsche 914 or Lotus Europa.
Pass on to the '80s & '90s, and you find the split widening: domestic vehicles kept getting bigger, but the imports kept gaining market share. It didn't have much to do with generations (excepting as the arrival of kids might have necessitated a back seat). The people who preferred smaller cars kept on buying them, but now their only real options were imports (even when the Big 3 put their name on something made in Japan or Korea).
The point is, you've got a small market segment that really likes big cars, and another that likes small ones. Between those extremes, though, you find the majority who are more inclined to buy whatever advertising convinces them is popular. The not-so-big 3 spent a lot of money convincing people in this middle group that they really wanted SUVs. Unfortuantely for them, they've run into reality in the form of rising oil prices. They either need to change their attitudes (and advertising), or die.