Quote:
Originally Posted by roflwaffle
Both parties are to blame, and I'd put my money on the manufacturers as well as the consumers. People can only buy what car companies build. If they don't build any SUVs, people can't buy SUVs. Arguably we could say that the companies who weren't building SUVs like the big 3 could've been pushed out of business, but companies such as Toyota and Honda have effectively put that notion to bed. They can build a few SUVs, but in general have a relatively efficient production fleet. That said, ultimately it's a policy failure, as we can see from the approach of countries like France and the U.K.
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For sure the mfgs willingly went along with the consumer's SUV/PU stupidity. Once the mfgs found they were on to something they promoted the helle out of it. Buut:
The car companies DID and always have offered economical choices. If the consumer preferred, say, the Metro and made it America's top seller for 37 years instead of the F150, our national fleet would look quite a bit different.
The car companies SHOULD offer SUVs. There is some percentage of motorists for which an SUV is actually the most appropriate, most economical choice. But bear with me as I grab numbers out of thin air here- that might be 2% of motorists vs the 48% of motorists that jumped on the SUV bandwagon for whatever stupid purposes they had in mind.
Is it a policy failure or a failure of the consumer in general to be a consciencious steward? I think it's both... but mostly a consumer fault.