the future is still SUV
 

at least the near future as far as the US big three are concerned.

a good not so long read. and if you can't have enough, there is this good companion piece on trucks.

I believe the exact opposite, SUVs are dieing, if not dead already.

Who still makes an SUV that gets sold here? The Wrangler? Barely but as least they still have solid front axles in their favor.


SUV.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...ba456bfa4b.jpg


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...fbb2aa5608.jpg



Not an SUV.


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...70e4b05619.jpg


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...3192fd7f71.jpg



The sedan is alive and well, the automakers just made them taller and called them something else. People are eating it up, it was brilliant marketing.



Now, the American truck will never die. We use them too much, I love having my truck. I can't hauled motorcycles, carry 2,500 pounds of hardwood flooring, pull trees out, or drive through almost anything with the Mini. I just wish we would make small trucks again, the new Ranger and the Colorado are as big as my old K1500. I don't need to get 11mpg, but man it's nice having such a tank around.

The truck may be alive and well but like the SUV, it has strayed pretty far from it's roots. It took my future father in law way too long to buy a truck because he wanted a 2500 Chevy with an 8 foot bed, single cab, and 4x4. You know, a truck. Apparently that's a unicorn these days.

Did you read the articles?:wink: It is not my opinion. The article has facts from the "big three" to bare out the title. The tall sedans that you referred to are crossovers. They are the best selling category here in this continent and is as brilliant as what Lee Iaccoca did with K-car platform that spawned the then ubiquitous minivans and the butt ugly K-cars that would not die.

I like LRs but US only get the crap petrol engine for the longest time, instead of the diesel. This is an off road utility vehicle, not most American's notion of SUV.

Most has no idea of the differences between the truck-based SUVs of last decade, and the new uni-body crossover SUVs. Like all things, there are pros and cons.

I did read the articles. They are selling tall sedans, calling them something trendy, and reaping huge profits on vehicles with larger profit margins. It is brilliant marketing, just like proclaiming progressive business ideas by denouncing an old design in favor of something new(er).

Unlike Iacocca or Issigonis, I see zero design creativity or value in the design of crossovers or modern SUVs. They are worse than a car with no SUV capability.


I will probably never understand why people love them so much.

I have a real SUV (FJ), and a Countryman. And while the countryman is still a lot more of a standard car, compared to every other new car, it has those crossover-esque qualities I like. Bigger inside, little more ground clearance. A Crossover-SUV would give you those things AND you sit up a little higher like a SUV (usually). So much nicer sitting up high.

So that is why people "love them so much".

Car-like ride
Car-like MPG
SUV-like storage
SUV-like 'feeling'

Win-win for most people

I do not consider a countryman an SUV, it just cant tow enough. I consider an X5 an SUV it can tow more than it's weight. Both were based on cars, the x5 was an E39 wagon upsized but the capabilities are quite a bit different

I consider the car based front wheel drive things CUV's even though the industry doesn't

Do you have an modern FJ or an old FJ cruiser? I thought the new FJ was a pretty cool offering but it's tough to find them in manual.

I just don't get it. I also don't think they ride like cars or get car mileage.

more proof the future is SUV
 

Ford to cut car lineup to just 2 models. Say goodbye to Fusion, Taurus.


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...5628ed1a5d.jpg

I wonder if this is a purely consumer driven decision or if it is a move to work around regulations like emissions and safety standards.

It is totally the US consumers' demand as the fuel is so cheap. Much more profitable to built trucks and SUVs. F150 is the the best selling truck like forever. Chrysler now has a truck that when fully loaded, priced at $70k. And the new model is 4 inch longer.

Wonder what happens when gas prices go even higher and then stay high? Will people freak out and come running back to small cars? I always chuckle when someone takes a $20,000 hit on a big vehicle because gas prices went up and somehow they think they are going to recoup the savings by using less gas. Then gas prices go down and they take a hit on the small car to move back to an SUV.

I reluctantly owned a Minivan when we had youngsters, what a crapmobile. Also have had a few mid to small SUVs and never loved them.

Yeah, but it wasn't that long ago we were close to $5 gallons of gas! Does everyone forget that already?


I'm just very out of touch with the average American consumer.


Yes, and then the trucks will be cheap again just in time for me to need a new one!

I'm sorry you had to experience that. Minivans are almost as bad as fake SUVs, but at least they don't pretend to be something they aren't.

Just saw this lol.... Modern FJ :thumbsup:

I always see this - and wonder how much homework some people do before it's said (that's not an accusation toward you). Just because Ford says it, doesn't make it so.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/af...-king-car-news

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ng_automobiles

Don't confuse 'F Series' with F-150. The F-150 is one model of many in the line up. Also consider that as Ford removes most sedans from it's line up, this may only increase the F Series sales. I think they removed the Ranger to help with those numbers too.

umm your link is talking about f-150 sales vs cars, did you have another link disputing it's sales records against other trucks?

My real dispute is that it's labeled as the best selling vehicle of all time / best selling truck of all time but part of my beef is in how they say it and how people go for it.

As shown, it's not the best selling vehicle of all time. The numbers you generally see are F Series numbers, which cover the 150 through the 650.

Ford sells alot of trucks - I'll give them that. Chevy sells their trucks under 2 different brands. I wonder how those numbers would stack up. Combined, I think they outsell Ford. If most of your sales are trucks, then it's a little hard not to be #1 in sales. In comparison, I don't see other Mfr's touting they're #1 for what they are #1 in.

Keep in mind - the key words '#1 in sales'. As for what the better truck actually is - that ball goes back and forth between all of the mfr's.

These are my opinions backed up by things I have found online - as shown. I'm not trying to start a 'truck war'. I just don't like their attempts with false advertising.

http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/04/auto...ars/index.html

'General Motors (GM) trucks are also popular, but GM sells its trucks under two different brands, Chevrolet and GMC. Combined, GM trucks have outsold Ford's in several years, according to data from the automotive website Edmunds.com.'

ford outsold them, 986,764 f-type in 2017, gmc+chevy sold 702,807

It hardly ever makes sense to sell a vehicle (that may be paid in full) to buy another vehicle (that likely isn't paid in full) that gets better gas mileage. There's this thing called "math" that helps to prove this. For some reason people don't like to believe things like math.

They didn't specify year, all it says it that they have outsold them several times. Considering Ford's doing it by 'F Series', you'd have to include Chevy / GMC 1500-6500.

https://www.tfltruck.com/2018/01/201...r-summary-won/

Here are the 2017 sales totals across all pickups (full and mid size).

1. All GM pickups / 948,909
2. All Ford pickups / 896,764
3. All Ram pickups / 500,723
4. All Toyota pickups / 314,409
5. All Nissan pickups / 127,284
6. All Honda pickups / 34,749

and they have outsold them in full size, year after year

I remember when gas spiked last time, everyone was dumping suv's on used car lots

Wow! Nice to see so much passionate debates. I am not knocking trucks, SUVs, or crossovers, for those who have the need. I would own a real truck like F150, or F350 Super Duty if I have a need. I would not want one just to look tough though.

While the F150 do not outsell GM or Chrysler every year, I infer it is the undisputed king of trucks in total sales volume.

On people keep getting into auto-loan. They should call it auto-debt and a few might just be wiser. I seldom take out an auto-debt. When I do only when the interest rate is so low that I better use the money to for investment. I would pay off the loan in less then a year in most cases. Think of it as a bridge loan with very low rate. I know plenty who cannot wait to get into another auto-debt when the current one is paid off. There are plenty that get bore of their new auto after a year or too.

I don't know what TFL is counting in their reports, which is why I said for a fair comparison, you'd have to include all GM's 1500-6500. Even if Ford were to sell more, it's not by a large margin. Again, my issue is that people OFTEN get Ford's message of the best selling vehicle equated to the F 150 and it's not. Ford's numbers are from the F Series, not the F 150. I understand it's trivial but the way they do it just rubs me the wrong way.

I agree about gas spikes.

Or debt in general. We were talking about the life cycle of products in my classes this week and cars were a hot topic.

The average lifespan of a new car is 8 years. I was completely dumbfounded by this, I've never owned a car that young.

my drive to work makes me doubt the average lifespan is only 8 years, that means LOTS of less than 8 year old cars going to the junkard with nothing wrong with them that just does not happen

even totaled cars get salvage titled and put back on the road

Do you mean lifespan or length of ownership. If the latter then i can believe. If the former then I find that hard to believe and suggest you check your source of information. The 4 vehicles I currently own are 3, 7, 13 and 16 years old. The 7 year old vehicle was just purchased and replaced a 19 year old vehicle that I had owned for 17 years.