Hybrid Car Sales Tank...

[Capt Worley PE]

Surprise, surprise. Fuel is cheap and no one wants to pay the extra bucks for hybrids.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hybr...0,6682265.story

 

[roadwreck]

ooooooo...

...sounds like a good time to buy one.

Haven't all car sales tanked? I don't think gas guzzling SUV's are flying off the lots either.

 

[rudy]

A friend of mine bought one a last year. They were so hot, she was on a waiting list. She got layed off a few weeks ago. I feel bad for her... a car payment, gas is cheap now, and on top of that who knows if she'll be able to sell her car if she needs to. It's funny (funny weird, not funny ha, ha) how things have changed within a year.

 

[PE-ness]

Dammit! I thought this thread was about hybrid tank sales. I'd love to be able to drive one of those to work.

 

[EM_PS]

this is what pisses me off when people start slammin the Big 3, and the big, gluttonous vehicles they so typically crank out: its what the car buying public wanted! Its a simple business - give the people what they want to buy. One little gas price crisis, and suddenly the companies are inept, archaic, holding back "green" technology for decades - yet, wait folks, wait till the prices slip back down. . . hmm, maybe i will take that Navigator over the Prius.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Let's just face it. We're a big country with vast distances and we like big, comfortable cars.

 

[roadwreck]

this is what pisses me off when people start slammin the Big 3, and the big, gluttonous vehicles they so typically crank out: its what the car buying public wanted! Its a simple business - give the people what they want to buy. One little gas price crisis, and suddenly the companies are inept, archaic, holding back "green" technology for decades - yet, wait folks, wait till the prices slip back down. . . hmm, maybe i will take that Navigator over the Prius.

The big three still weren't in great shape if it took a summer or two of high gas prices to bring them to their knees financially. No matter what gas prices are, they need to make some changes to remain viable.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

Let's just face it. We're a big country with vast distances and we like big, comfortable cars.

What I would really like to do one day when finances permit, is to have two small, efficient cars for driving back and forth to work and around town. And get a used but reliable enough SUV or pick-up for large items or when more storage is needed.

95% of the time, I don't do anything with my SUV that I couldn't with a car. But that ther 5% makes it worth all the extra gas I buy.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

There was only one time that I used my Ranger for something I couldn't have done with my Civic, Shadow, or Maxx, and that was haul a love seat and two chairs. I'll take a small hatchback over a pickup or SUV anytime and rent a pick'em-up when I need to.

 

[EM_PS]

The big three still weren't in great shape if it took a summer or two of high gas prices to bring them to their knees financially. No matter what gas prices are, they need to make some changes to remain viable.

true, and they do have sig issues in terms of being viable, successful enterprises - but it was the 'don't call it a recession' recession that pretty much crushed / is crushing all automakers; not how many hybrids a company has in its arsenal. Cars are the 2nd most expensive thing most people buy, whether its hybrids or chevy tahoes, most folks arent gonna outlay sig purchases like that for awhile.

 

[roadwreck]

true, and they do have sig issues in terms of being viable, successful enterprises - but it was the 'don't call it a recession' recession that pretty much crushed / is crushing all automakers; not how many hybrids a company has in its arsenal. Cars are the 2nd most expensive thing most people buy, whether its hybrids or chevy tahoes, most folks arent gonna outlay sig purchases like that for awhile.

I think what hurt the big three significantly early on was the perception of quality and reliability of American vehicles vs. the imports. I know people can pull out all sorts of numbers to show that this isn't the case, but the perception is still there. Couple that with US auto makers relying heavily on truck and SUV sales and you have a recipe for disaster when those sales cool off. From my perspective, I still believe that the US manufactures don't have squat in quality and selection when it comes to cars. Trucks and SUV's is a different matter, but I when I was shopping for a car (this was well before gas prices were in the $3-$4 range) I all but wrote off the big three b/c they did not have anything that appealed to me.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Yeah, perception is everything. People have heard tales or personally experienced been screwed by products from the Big 3. It takes a lot to overcome bad publicity.

We have three Chevies, and I can say they are pretty much up to the build quality I've experienced in Japanese cars, even surpassed that of my Sentra. I can tell people that til I'm blue in the face, but when someone is putting down their hard earned cash, its hard to take CW's advice when practically everyone else (most of whom don't own American iron) are telling them otherwise.

 

[Chucktown PE]

Yep. My dad had a 1996 Chevy Tahoe and the engine blew at 90,000 miles. I won't really even look at a Chevy Tahoe for that reason. Right now I'm looking at a used Acura MDX and a used Toyota Sequoia.

 

[Road Guy]

this is what pisses me off when people start slammin the Big 3, and the big, gluttonous vehicles they so typically crank out: its what the car buying public wanted! Its a simple business - give the people what they want to buy. One little gas price crisis, and suddenly the companies are inept, archaic, holding back "green" technology for decades - yet, wait folks, wait till the prices slip back down. . . hmm, maybe i will take that Navigator over the Prius.

americans dont like to blame themselves, it has to be someone elses fault!

While I do think the big 3 have poor business methods, most of them union related, which cause you and I to pay more for cars we buy from them, they have been making the cars that the people wanted.

My wife bought a prius, I think its a total POS, but she likes it (I just ask her to park in the garage so no one sees it) Its only worth it if gas is going to be $4 a gallon (but she didnt listen to me)

 

[dastuff]

I swear to some higher power if the big 3 use this as an excuse to never change their ways once again then I'd like to see them burn...

Oh we need tons of money because our business model can't compete...

Wait... gas is down??? Keep make'n those gas chuggers! We got ourselves a market.....

 

[rudy]

What I would really like to do one day when finances permit, is to have two small, efficient cars for driving back and forth to work and around town. And get a used but reliable enough SUV or pick-up for large items or when more storage is needed.
95% of the time, I don't do anything with my SUV that I couldn't with a car. But that ther 5% makes it worth all the extra gas I buy.

Agree. If I ever won the lottery, I'd buy my old van back, convert it to an electric car. Research the name of the guy who optimized the battery to a longer lasting one (he's the guy shown on Inconvenient Truth. he patented the battery's, even came up with a smaller one that lasts longer. and guess who bought the patent? and stored it away? one of the big 3.)

Then, I'd buy the patent back use it for my remade electric van. Of course, this would have to be a big lottery. It's gonna take alot of dough for my plans.

 

[Dleg]

Let's just face it. We're a big country with vast distances and we like big, comfortable cars.

Our family took several trips in our 1980 non-airconditioned Mazda GLC back in my jr. and high school years, including some big trips from CO to the east coast. Everyone seemed to do just fine, and that was a "small" car even by 1980 standards.

When I got out of school, my oil field employer gave me a monstrous, cushy Ford Crown Victoria to drive around the countryside in. I quickly learned to appreciate the comfort factor, but I know it's just not necessary.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

^Yeah, that's my point. We CAN get by with smaller cars, but we PREFER the big cars.

 

[Chucktown PE]

^Yeah, that's my point. We CAN get by with smaller cars ****s, but we PREFER the big cars ****s.

Fixed it for you.

 

[NCcarguy]

I have a friend that owns a body shop, and you should hear him talk about the foreign cars, and especially the hybrids! He hates them! The real amazing thing about the hybrids are how much more expensive they are to work on when they have a small crash. The electrical system is so powerful that you literally have to have an expert come in and disconnect it so the body man doesn't get killed working on the car, and if you have to do ANY welding on the car chassis, you almost have to take it completely apart.

The total cost of ownership on those cars are going to prove in the long run to be massively more than a comparable gas model.

I bought a Mustang GT at the beginning of 2007, and drive it 110 miles per day. A co-worker bought a prius about the same time, he paid about 6000 more for that than I did the Mustang. I get 26mpg driving back and forth to work, and I think he gets about 45. He's also already had $2000 worth of damage to the car, he hit a small dog (sad but true!) he will NEVER cover the extra cost for what he bought, and I'll be honest, in the end I'm driving a cool *** car, and let's face it, he's driving a damn prius!!!!!