This morning, while reading the Wall Street Journal, I stumbled across this article:
Back to the Future: GM Bets on Trucks
later in the day, this article caught my eye:
Strung-Out America Demands More Big SUVs, Ford Happy to Resupply
Now, I’m going to begin this post with a caveat. I love my SUV.
But I don’t drive it every day. Sometimes, I go months without driving it. When I do drive it, I tend to for one of the following reasons:
- I’m going 4-Wheeling, or somewhere where I’ll need the additional clearance and 4wd
- I’m going to a NAXJA meeting
- I need to haul something that won’t fit in my Accord
- I just feel like driving a different vehicle, or want my Accord to feel like a Miata the next time I drive it
SUV’s are great vehicles. They can haul lots of stuff, and lots of people. I think they look cool, and I like the “go-anywhere” utility of my Jeep.
But I’m not most SUV buyers, who never leave pavement, never need to tow a boat, and really don’t need the SUV. Most SUV buyers would probably be just as happy, if not happier, in a good old-fashioned Station Wagon.
I just uttered an automotive dirty word. Station wagon’s aren’t cool. They’re what your mom drove. They were the site of fights with your siblings on road trips to Wally World. But modern station wagons offer the utility that most people need from their SUV while delivering some good gas mileage, and even looking cool in the process. Need an example? Check out the Subaru Legacy, Mercedes E-Class, and the upcomming CTS-V Wagon.
So why are GM and Ford going back to SUV’s and Trucks? They’re big money makers. Big vehicle, big price premium, bigger profits per vehicle. I get it. I’m a business major, and I can’t blame them for wanting to make a buck. The question is, are we really as hungry for new SUV’s and Trucks as these articles claim?
Full size pickups will never go away. They make sense for business, whether big or small. Someone will always need a Suburban to tow their boat.
The problem is that the SUV strategy wasn’t sustainable before, and it isn’t now. The Japanese did SUV’s, and made plenty of money off of them, but their bread and butter was still the mid-sized sedan: Camry, Accord, Altima. Say those names with me. That is the battle ground that one needs to win to win in the auto industry.
I hope GM and Ford make less money on the next generation of SUV’s; not because I want them to fail, but because I want those huge profits SUV’s generate to be invested into making those SUV’s- and the passenger cars- better, more fuel-efficient, and more competitive.
By doing so, hopefully GM won’t have to rely on them to survive ever again. I’m disappointed in the direction change, and hope its temporary.
Now back to your regularly scheduled auto show. Another update is coming tomorrow, as today was slow.
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