Fortune - October Sales Of Big Trucks, SUVs "Through The Roof"

[hatrack]

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Who can remember all the way back to last summer, when we had daylight-saving-time, baseball and $3 a gallon gasoline prices? Not American car buyers, apparently, and you can see the evidence in the results of October auto sales.

Sales of big pickup trucks and SUVs went through the roof - doubling from the year before in some cases. Sales of small, fuel-efficient cars, meanwhile, remained stagnant. It is as if all that moaning and groaning about price gouging by oil companies never happened. Actually, it is worse than that. American consumers have reinforced all the stereotypes they are labeled with: short attention spans, lack of social consciousness and thinking with their wallets.

Does anyone seriously believe that having once spiked up to $3 with very little provocation, gasoline prices won't do it again? Have they forgotten about the ongoing instability in the Middle East? And have they stopped caring about traffic density, scarce resources or global warming? And if they haven't, why aren't they exercising better sense in their vehicle preferences?

General Motors' (Charts) customers get the ostrich award for sticking their heads in the sand. They drove up sales of hulking Chevy Tahoes and Suburbans, and Cadillac Escalades in October to double and triple the rates of a year ago. At the same time, they walked away from economical Chevy Aveos and Cobalts, sending sales of those vehicles down 31 percent and 43 percent respectively. "GM's truck business was boosted by lower fuel prices," sales and marketing boss Mark LaNeve explains. Apparently so. One bright spot, sales of the fuel-gulping Hummer were about flat compared with a year ago. Perhaps consumers have tired of cartoonish macho design.

EDIT

http://money.cnn.com/2006/11/01/magazines/fortune/pluggedin_taylor_SUVsales.fortune/?postversion=2006110208

[MADem]

1. Never overestimate the intelligence of the American consumer, I guess

I mean, really...what a bunch of fucking Homer Simpsons! But that's an insult to Homer, I suspect...

[Dead_Parrot]

9. Absolutely! Homer drives a sedan... nt

[Demeter]

2. I Simply Don't Believe This

Unless all those trucks and SUVs are the low-gas and hybrid imports. Let me tell you, thee is no joy in the Motor city and environs.

[China_cat]

4. Of course prices are going to spike again.

Next Tuesday. About 5 minutes after the last poll closes.

[hunter]

3. Fool me once...

Fool me once, shame on -- shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again.

-- George W. Bush

I guess it's true.

[sallyseven]

5. Never underestimate the stupidity of

an American citizen. 30% still think bush is a good guy. So why wouldn't they buy a big ass car to show how smart they are. $3.50 a gallon by January 1.

[displacedtexan]

6. Strange, CNN neglected to include info on the "deep discounts."

Consumers Finding Heavily Discounted 2006 Models on Many Dealer Lots - Daily Auto Insider

Among vehicle segments, large SUVs had the highest average incentives, $5,352 per vehicle sold, followed by large trucks at $4,990. Compact cars had the lowest average incentives per vehicle sold, $672, followed by luxury sports cars at $1,207. Analysis of incentives expenditures as a percentage of average sticker price for each segment shows large trucks averaged the highest, 16.1 percent, followed by large SUVs at 14.1 percent of sticker price. Luxury sport cars averaged the lowest, 2.2 percent, followed by compact cars at 4.0 percent of sticker price.

LINK

[gaspee]

7. my goodness

Americans are fucking stupid. I see evidence of it everyday, but this... this is just plain nuts.

[phantom power]

8. Those are some cute puppies.