CNNMoney says that consumers are avoiding gas guzzling SUVs and buying… nothing! whaddayaknow.
“Anywhere you want to look, credit conditions, the job market, stock market, you can see the consumers are getting hammered,” Schnorbus said. “If there was ever a time when you want to sit back and wait out the storm, now is the time to do it.”
But automakers also suggested some of the weakness in car sales could be due to the short supply of many fuel-efficient models after a rush to buy those vehicles in May.
“That limited supply we believed had an impact,” said George Pipas, the director of sales analysis for Ford
Automakers are rushing to increase production on cars like the Prius in order to catch up with demand. Do you want a Prius or are you waiting for something even better? Or are you just, you know, already upside down on your current car loan and barely able to find the money to drive to the grocery store — let alone buy rapidly shrinking food?
Auto sales plunge [CNNMoney]
(Photo: Fast Fords )
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@S3CT: Some of us NEED large cars. I use my SUV for SUV type stuff all the time. Going camping, road trips, vacations, when it snows. I need the room and the capability to go off road. Go ahead laugh but I’d love to see whatever you drive haul anything or go trudging through the woods or snow(or both) or carry more than 2 people with gear. I don’t use my SUV as a trophy I use it for what its for and these gas prices are HURTING EVERYONE including people that get 40MPG. Think about it, regardless of your mileage we are all still paying double+ what we used to to get where we need or want to be. Problem is these prices are artificiall inflated for no good reason other than to make the speculators and oils companies rich.
I lucked out and wound up buying a new Corolla in 05. I’ve considered getting rid of it lots of times but I have been really glad to have it over the last year. My other car is an 85 Silverado on 35s with a 350 and several guzzle gas/make more power goodies. It averages about 12 mpg. The Corolla gives me an average of 33 mpg and I’ve had trips as high as 50 mpg.
The problem is American arms of all manufacturers, US and Japanese alike haven’t geared up to produce the great small cars they sell in Europe over here – what we get are half-hearted attempts at compacts that nobody likes. For example, in Europe, Ford makes 2 great cars smaller than the Focus, the Ka and the Fiesta, but neither is available in the US, so where do people wanting fun little cars go? I would buy them if they made them here, but you are forced to go elsewhere, only the Japan brands have anything like affordable fun compacts in the US, and even they don’t have the range they produce in Europe. We are just too far behind the curve and the behemoth auto industry is too slow to respond: Latest news is that Ford is apparently finally bringing the great Fiesta over here, but not until 2010.
I remember telling one of my friends that the day is coming soon when the American Auto Market was going to come to crashing to a HALT…I had this conversation 9 years ago! Was I channeling Nostrademus? No…I simply used my common sense. Over the last 30+ years the American car manufacturers have simply refused to build a a quality fuel efficient vehicle! It’s not like they couldn’t, they just refused to. In the mean time, automobile manufacturers in Japan did the RIGHT thing and they built the RIGHT kind of vehicles. You reap what you sow FORD, CHEVY, DODGE! I have owned 5 vehicles in my life time, 3 domestics and 2 imports. As you can guess the domestics ( GMC, CHEVY, OLDSMOBILE ) were complete GARBAGE…where as the 2 imports ( MAZDA, LEXUS ) were a complete DREAM to own! I WILL NEVER EVER PURCHASE ANOTHER DOMESTIC! For far too long the domestic auto makers have taken advantage of the American people, now is the time retribution…
I need a 60-80mile range for whatever alternative fuel vehicle I buy as a 2nd car… A lot of these alternative fuel vehicles only get around 40 miles at best and that’s the minimum I drive a day.
Because of that I’m going to hold out for one of those 02 feed cars. Only goes around 70mph, but gets around 126miles on a full tank and it’s cheap to refuel.
+ Watch video
I have a late model car that is paid off that I get 30+ mpg in regularly. No need to go greener unless gas goes to maybe $10 or so a gallon. Maybe when they make the dedicated super-hybrid rumored for Lexus I’ll think about it. Or if Tesla releases their sports sedan for $60K. I’m not holding my breath.
@fostina1: waiting for 100% electric b4 i buy again.
Ditto! I want a plug in electric that will get me through a New England winter and get me to work or the mall and back (about 50 miles RT) without the gas/diesel generator turning on.
@gravion17: You do realize that Mazda was bought by Ford and many of the small Fords are just Mazdas with different interiors and stuff.
Though, I loved the Mazda 3 but it was too pricey for me and the Focus was too cheap looking.
The car that I want is being built right now and even though they have a foot in the grave,Ford won’t let me buy it.
I would love to tell the Toyota dealers to stick their Yaris where the sun doesn’t shine when they pack a couple of grand in add ons to the price of a basic 4 cyl/4 seat two door coupe.
Can’t do that because the Ford Ka has about as much chance of being sold here as kosher pork sausage.Ford is losing money from every orifice and they sell that car in,what, 20-25 countries ? But they won’t sell it here. I guess that they’re like MCDonalds- You can have anything your heart desires-As long as its on the menu…
im still waiting for electric to be honest. battery tech is getting better all the time thanks to military research.
We were seriously considering replacing our 03 Focus hatchback with a hybrid. The Focus really didn’t get very good gas mileage for a car its size. 23 in town on a good week. We once managed 34 mpg on the highway on a long trip barely using the AC, but dammit a car like that ought to do SO much better. Once we sat down and did the math, though, we realized that a hybrid was a terrible deal if you have to finance it. Nobody’s playing ball on the financing because they’re selling the stupid things hand over fist to people who are bad at math or want that little “hybrid” badge to make them feel good about themselves, or whatever.
The other thing that limited us (perhaps artificially) was we wanted something more comfortable than the Focus. That ruled out the Civic hybrid, and I just can’t get past the looks of the Prius. We had sort of settled on a Ford Escape hybrid, but again…math. We figured out that even with $6/gal gas the Escape hybrid would cost us $4000 more over the life of the loan than a pimped out ’08 Honda Accord sedan.
So guess who drove a loaded Honda Accord sedan home this past weekend? Yup, that’d be me. It looks like it’s getting better in town mileage than the Focus did, and it is an absolute pleasure to drive. I have never enjoyed driving a car more. I’m not paying obscenely high interest and I didn’t have to wait 8 months for Ford to build it. Buying at the end of a terrible month for auto sales really worked out in our favor. We got a great deal on a fantastic car.
I think we’ll wait to trade our other vehicle in until the plug-in hybrids come out and aren’t obscenely expensive. Now that we’ve got the Honda we’re in a good position to wait awhile.
We paid off our small car 11 months ago having seen this b.s. was coming. Sucks to be all those other people.
@Neecy:
Thanks for posting these cars! I will be sure to point these out whenever anyone starts talking about hybrids. It’s too bad that most Americans are too fat to fit in these small, fuel-efficient cars.
@Silversmok3:
You seem to be focusing on American brands there. 1980s Japanese cars had plenty of staying power. The only thing that killed most of those cars dead was rust.
My 32mpg 1998 Chevy Cavalier is unfortunately dying. I can technically afford a new car (a cheap one at least,) but I’m going to hold out as long as possible with bicycle+transit and more than likely a scooter.
I really want an all-electric or plug-in hybrid, but I can never see paying $60 or $100K for a car. Aptera is supposed to have EVs on the road for under $30K next year, and I’m trying to remain optimistic.
If the car companies asked me, I’d tell to build them a 1200-1400 pound car with 3-cylinders and a battery (for torque from standing starts) and no frills, just a rollcage with paneling inside and out that gets 50mpg.
Stereo? Give me a build-in MP3 player with 30 watt speakers. Bodywork? Fibreglas is good enough and light. Airbags? If every car on the road were lighter and we all slowed down, we wouldn’t need them.
Too many cars are built to be small houses and race cars rather than basic transportation. What we need are a return of 50mpg Honda Civics from 1979. I saw people driving those things for up to 15 years.
I’d try to hold off til late fall to buy a smaller more fuel efficient vehicle.As many have already noted the laws of supply and demand are in full play.Hopefully these companies at least increased the volume on the existing production lines/factories if not expanded the production of fuel efficient cars.
Unless fuel is just killing you and I’d wait til the supply increases a little.The question is will the extra amount you pay now for a fuel efficient car offset your current fuel costs.
I’m still puzzled by Detroit.In World War II the car factories switched over to tank and plane production over 60 years ago in less time than it will take for Detroit to switch from SUVs to cars today,with modern technology at it’s disposal.
I’d recall every factory worker layed off or forced out in a last ditch gambit to manufacture enough cars not only to meet demand but to possibly overtake overseas competition as well.There is literally little or nothing to be lost at this point yet everything to be gained.
I’ll most likely be buying a new car sometime in the next 9 months, since mine is on the way out in terms of reliability. I don’t really mind paying a premium for a car as long as its got the quality to back it up. I also don’t mind getting a 6 cylinder over a 4 simply because without the 4 cyl being super or turbocharged, there simply isn’t enough power coming from that little engine. Gas guzzling SUV’s are a no for me though, as are pretty much any SUV’s, or pickup trucks.
Everyone’s talking about “it’s so nice not to have a car payment.” How about not buying something on a loan? You know, like before the 50′s era introduced the “pay on credit” idea? If you can’t afford to buy a BMW without making payments, buy a Honda or Toyota. I for one am in the market for a new car. It will be my first new car and I am a student who has saved well (I am getting no help from my parents), and guess what? I’m buying it outright! I don’t plan on ever buying on credit or loans unless it is a necessity like a hospital bill. I find it startling how few people view purchases this way.
i won’t buy a new car until they bring back the electric car.
automakers need to stop thinking about profits and be realistic here. we cannot use cars that use fossil fuels anymore. no one can afford it, we are running out of it, and most importantly, it’s killing us.
sadly, the technology would’ve been MUCH more advanced had they continued what they started 8+ years ago instead of killing it off.
i want an electric car but cannot afford to even make a down payment to be put on a waiting list for a tesla.
@sean77:
My ’91 Bonnie that has had two trannie rebuilds, a jerry-rigged radiator, a bad ground somewhere, and no oil change in the last year still gets between 15-20mpg city.
And I’d be doing better than that if idiots wouldn’t come to a dead stop before making turns on green. Nothing like having to accelerate and brake every two seconds because you’re expecting movement ahead of you.
I’d be doing even better if I didn’t have so many hills to climb on the way to work. I pity the drivers in SF, all those long hills to burn gas. That’s the real reason for the popularity of hybrids out there.
There are others with the same car who say they get ~30MPG average. Considering the size and weight, I’d say that beats the crap out of most modern vehicles.
To top it off, 5* crash test. 3* for an Explorer, 4* for most of the fuel-efficient models and hybrids. I’d rather be in my Bonnie than some Prius when that Explorer comes a knockin’ on my side window. Sure, side airbags are nice – but not when the car explodes into flechettes around you.
@night_sky: Unfortunately it doesn’t always work like that.
I bought my 98 Cavalier outright for $2K in early 2005. I slammed a good 50K miles on it, graduated college and got a good job and the damn thing started giving me problems which pointed to some rather pricey transmission problems (damn American cars only lasting 150K hard miles
) and so with a new job requiring reliable transport I didn’t have time to save up to get a new one. I did have enough to buy another beater outright but when you are just starting a new job and driving 50 miles a day you have to have reliable transport.
I do miss my Chevy, though. It ran like a top with no major problems. My brother in law bought it for $500 and fixed it up himself so my sister drives it now. I do miss not having to write a check every month for my car, though.
My current plan though is once this one is paid off I will keep paying the car payment, but this time to a savings account. Then when this car craps the bed or I get sick of it (thinking 8 and hoping for 10 years) then I should have the cash to buy a new/used one outright or with a much smaller loan.
I also would really LOVE to see the Ford Ka imported to the US. They made it in Brazil and sold it in Mexico so I’m not sure how legal it would be to buy one down there and import it.
@verucalise: I did exactly that. Picked up a ’94 Escort wagon, with good A/C, 5-speed, ~100K miles, for one thou. Parked my Explorer for weekends. I went from getting 15 mpg on my 30-mile round trip commute through DC to >36 mpg.
Got my Prius last year- 500 under invoice– used the AAA buying service. Credit unions have it too– I HATE dealing with Toyota sales people, and this made it so all I had to do is say what I want, they price it, and I buy it. At the time, most folks were paying over invoice…48 mpg babay!
I don’t understand all the comments indicating that American manufacturers don’t make cars Americans want. They command 50% of the market between three manufacturers. It takes a dozen other companies to make up the other 50%!
If you discount trucks and SUV’s, they all have fairly comparable mileage. Ford can’t build enough Focuses, for example. If you include trucks and SUV’s, well, then the Asians are just as “eeeevil” as the Americans. They’re not suffering today because no one buys their cars; they’re suffering because they don’t build enough of the cars that are in demand, due to legacy reasons (trucks and SUV’s, of course).
My 2000 Neon has 130,000 miles, is paid off, and gets 30-34 mpg (the best I’ve calculated is 37, heading west on I-70 with the prevailing winds). Not bad. Of course, I’d like something that gets even better gas mileage … but, economically, driving that car for the next couple of years into its grave is the best plan.
@night_sky: Congratulations. Now stop preaching.
@BeastMD: Some of us NEED large cars. I use my SUV for SUV type stuff all the time. Going camping, road trips, vacations, when it snows. I need the room and the capability to go off road.
That’s not NEED, that’s WANT. The only people who might NEED them are those whose daily business (i.e. how they make money and survive) depends on it.
Problem is these prices are artificiall inflated for no good reason other than to make the speculators and oils companies rich.
If that makes you feel better, then go ahead and say it. But you, and me, and anybody else who continues to drive gasoline powered vehicles, are a big part of the problem. Oil demand has permanently outpaced oil supply. There’s nothing we can do to get more oil out of the ground. It’s a limited resource.
I’m waiting for the Think to come to the US (Looks like the Smart, but is fully electric). I drive less than 5 miles each way to the bus station so this will be perfect. Until then I’ll drive the beater I bought 10 years ago. The stupid thing still costs me over $10 a week for almost no driving. Ugh
…and so with a new job requiring reliable transport I didn’t have time to save up to get a new one.
@battra92: I remember arguing with someone a while back about this. They refused to believe that someone could be in a position where they had to get an auto loan. They were absolutely convinced that everyone should either pay cash or don’t buy a car at all.
Yeah, that will work out: Don’t get a job because the only way to reach it is to get a car and you can’t pay cash for it.
@captadam: THIS. The number of Americans who really need vehicles like this can probably fill an NCAA Division II (think Colgate or Cornell) basketball arena. Seriously. Some people take them camping, and that’s nice, but do they really NEED it? Would their worlds come to an end if their SUVs suddenly caught fire (hopefully not while parked in the garage) one night? While it would be an adjustment to some people, I would say the answer to that is no. It’s not like losing your job, or coming home to find your house on fire, or your doctor telling you you have cancer.
I recently purchased a Scion xD. 35 to 40 mpg, baby. I love it. It is a zippy little car.
I want a small, lightweight, inexpensive, quick, nice looking, reliable, well-balanced car with at least a bit of storage room that goes 0-60 in less than 10 seconds and gets 30/40 mpg. I’d be willing to pay 10-15k.
Current list:
Mazda 3
Honda Fit
…
One niche I wish Detroit (or whoever) would have paid a little more attention to is small pickups. It seems like most of the pickup trucks the last few years have been getting bigger and bigger.
I have an ’06 Ranger. It’s a classic example of Ford totally missing opportunities. For what I use a vehicle for, it’s fine – it’s small enough to easily park and maneuver, but I still have a 6-foot bed for the occasions when I need to haul stuff. I usually get around 18mpg – not great, but not awful for a vehicle with 4wd and a 4.0L V6, and way better than an F-150 would.
But Ford hasn’t put any marketing or engineering into the Ranger in years, and will probably kill it after next year. Nevermind that it’s a great niche – lots of people could use a truck but don’t need a giant one.
In a few years, I’ll probably buy a second smaller, more fuel efficient vehicle and relegate the Ranger to snow day/ hauling duty.
@madanthony: Ugh, that’s just tragic. We have an ’06 Ranger as well. It’s a little doggy with the 4-cyl, but it’s good for Home Depot runs, helping friends move, hauling messy things that we don’t want to put in the car, etc. It’s actually my second Ranger–I owned a 1999 Ranger for awhile. Killing off that form factor without replacing it is a mistake, but I have faith in Ford to make the worst possible choice.
I drive a 97 Isuzu Rodeo. I bought it used 2.5 years ago, when my Neon was totalled. It gets 15MPG in all around driving (MT).
But I live in New England, so it does come in handy.
But gas prices are starting to affect my budget and I only drive to work. A tank lasts me two weeks if I just drive to work.
I would kill to buy small efficient coupe with AWD for around $15k, but I paid $2500 for the Isuzu and I like not having $250 car loan payment every month.
Fortunately for the car makers, there are enough fratties in Georgia that always want a bigger, badder truck than their ‘bros’ to keep the SUV industry alive.
Not only do they make cars no one wants, even the american cars people buy are garbage.
@Front_Towards_Enemy:
Not all dealers are gouging on Prius, My company is still taking orders and selling them $200 less then MSRP when you order through our web site and fill out the coupon.
We do not do additional dealer markups.
It’s hard to be a honest dealership in this day and age when every one assumes your trying to rip them off.
@P_Smith: Funny thing is, Pontiac sells such a car… in other markets. It’s actually a car made by GM originally under the Daewoo name, designed by Giugiaro and badge-engineered into pontiac for western markets.
It used to be a three-cylinder, 50bhp and 46mph affair, but now it has 4 and 65bhp out of a 1.0L engine, dropping to 44mpg. Starts at around 6500 USD, all taxes included.
You only need to go a bit south of texas to see them at Pontiac dealerships.
46mph = 46mpg. Sorry.
Still, the car ain’t particularly quick. I believe the top speed was around 70mph.
I have a 1991 Mazda Miata still running like a puppy. Having a small car that spent as little gas as possible was a stigma in the monster SUV 90s. I got laughed at a lot. May I have now the last laugh. Hah!
Having experienced the Ford Fiesta in India, recently, I’d say those of you who are pining for your early to mid 1990s car experience are in for a treat.
I suspect it’s only a matter of time until we see something hit the market that emulates that early 1980s Mazda hatchback experience as well,
Those of us who like something a little better than to relive the death box experience, however should probably take a pass. The Indian version of the Fiesta isn’t exactly a quality vehicle.
Here is what I want.
4 Door Compact to Mid Size Sedan. Heat Air BASIC radio
Manual windows Manual Brakes Manual Steering
NO transmission. No engine. Nice SINGLE (no wheel motors) electric motor to a drive shaft.
NIMH battery pack with a minimum 125mile range DROP dead range (IE everything on raining at night)
Cloth Seats no leather no vinyl.
100,000 warranty on all electronics related to the drive system. (charger battery controller Motor etc..)
UNDER $12,000
Thats it. Thats all I want. I will NOT buy a new car until I can get THAT. No negotiation.