Decline and Fall of the SUV

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May 2009
- Hatch: Save the Hummer ... for the Environment
  
  Washington Post | May 21, 09 12:12 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Many Republicans won’t touch fuel economy issues, but not Sen. Orrin Hatch. He’s been an advocate for alternative-fuel vehicles for a decade, and yesterday got behind the wheel of the most muscular hybrid ever, reports Dana Milbank of the Washington Post . A company from Hatch’s native Utah has created a plug-in Hummer that gets 100 mpg. Just two problems: General Motors is jettisoning the Hummer brand, and Hatch apparently can’t drive. More »
- 'Cash for Clunkers' Plan Hits Skids With Auto Experts
  
  MSNBC | May 2, 09 5:00 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - “Cash for Clunkers,” a congressional effort to remove older, gas-guzzling cars from the road, is gaining traction on Capitol Hill, but remains controversial elsewhere, MSNBC reports. The plan would offer drivers a $4,500 voucher toward new, fuel-efficient cars in exchange for trading in their environmentally unfriendly vehicles. “There are more effective policies out there,” said one expert. More »
April 2009
- Death Traps Vs. Gas Guzzlers Split Automakers
  
  Wall Street Journal | Apr 21, 09 11:45 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - In the push to curb America’s fuel intake, consumers must often make a choice between safety and fuel economy, Joseph White writes in the Wall Street Journal . The real problem, though, may be that small cars have to share the road with SUVs. “A much bigger issue is the incompatibility between truck-based SUVs and cars of any size,” says a researcher. More »
January 2009
- Ford Buffs Green Image With Fusion
  
  Wall Street Journal | Jan 5, 09 8:34 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Ford’s 2010 Fusion hybrid will debut this spring with an EPA rating of 41mpg city and 36mpg highway, writes Joseph White in the Wall Street Journal , but reaching those underwhelming numbers could be a tough ride for most consumers. Complicating Ford's tough sell are anemic gas prices, writes White, but the Fusion represents the direction Ford—and other American automakers—will need to take to compete with foreign carmakers' more accelerated leap into the green segment. More »
December 2008
- Obama, Please Impose a Gas Tax: Friedman
  
  New York Times | Dec 28, 08 10:07 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - It may be hard to sell, but a gas tax would be a “win, win, win, win” move—for the environment, the economy, the war on terror, and America’s standing in the world, Thomas Friedman writes in the New York Times . Barack Obama still has the popularity to impose such a tax—and offset it by lowering payroll taxes—but so far looks like President Bush, who "wimped out and would not impose a tax when prices were low." More »
November 2008
- Honked Off: Car Horns More Harm Than Good
  
  Slate | Nov 26, 08 8:00 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - The next time you honk your car’s horn, you might want to ask why you're doing it. Grabbing the horn by the bull for Slate, Dave Johns thinks you’re probably too close to do anything but tell your obstacle to get out of the way. That’s because drivers use their horns “as a tool for scolding rather than safety,” one expert says. More »
- How Cheap Gas Hurts Green Initiatives, Feds' Bottom Line
  
  Wall Street Journal | Nov 24, 08 9:15 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Americans are driving less and burning less fuel, but it could be too soon for conservation fans to celebrate. That dip, and global economic gloom, has sent oil and gas prices spiraling down, Joseph White writes in the Wall Street Journal , depriving the government of taxes it needs for transportation infrastructure—and perhaps sapping consumers’ motivation to buy more fuel-efficient vehicles. More »
October 2008
- Top Cars We Should Scrap
  
  US News & World Report | Oct 26, 08 4:59 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The possibility that one of Detroit's Big Three automakers is headed for the scrap heap left US News and World Report wondering which cars Americans could live without. Here are some top candidates: Jeep Commander: This boxy model gets 16 mpg and it shows: sales are down 55%. Dodge Durango: Even the hybrid version of this SUV hasn't stopped sales from falling an astonishing 54%. More »
- Insurance Guzzles Savings From Fuel-Efficient Cars
  
  Wall Street Journal | Oct 23, 08 11:07 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Think you’re saving money by driving that small, fuel-efficient car you traded in your SUV for? Maybe, but you’re probably paying more for your insurance—a lot more, reports the Wall Street Journal . In accidents, small cars tend to sustain more damage, and occupants more injures, than larger vehicles. Hence a Honda Civic, for example, incurs higher premiums than the company’s larger SUV CR-V. More »
September 2008
- Small Cars Carry Big Price Tags
  
  USA Today | Sep 3, 08 10:57 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - With sales of SUVs and trucks dwindling, car companies have begun to push smaller, more fuel-efficient models—but not for the same small prices. Without the $10,000 profit that was typical on SUVs, automakers can no longer sell cars like the Ford Focus for an average profit of $100. Some are using extras to lure higher-spending customers. More »
August 2008
- SUV Apocalypse Nears
  
  Daily Green | Aug 17, 08 10:04 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - America’s obsession with super-size cars seems to be running out of gas. The Daily Green reports on the seven signs of the SUV apocalypse: The numbers: Sales of small cars were up 11% in the first half of the year, while SUV and truck sales were down by 14% and 23%, respectively. The demand: The unofficial waiting list for GM’s new electric offering, the Chevy Volt, is 33,000-strong. More »
- Small Dips in Gas Prices Send Drivers Back to SUVs
  
  Los Angeles Times | Aug 12, 08 2:04 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Oil prices have been falling since mid-June, and though it’s debatable whether speculators or market fundamentals drove the boom (and now possible bust), it is clear that $4 a gallon gas crimped demand. But for how long? With prices now again below that psychological threshold but still $1.19 more than a year ago, auto industry data suggest that even mild relief could reverse the trend toward fuel efficiency, the LA Times reports. More »
July 2008
- US Driving Continues to Brake
  
  Washington Post | Jul 28, 08 2:57 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Driving in the United States continued to drop, the Washington Post reports, with May marking the steepest dip in vehicle-miles traveled for that month in the 66 years statistics have been tallied. Americans drove 9.6 billion fewer miles in May 2008 than May ’07; in the first five months of 2008, they drove 29.8 billion fewer miles than the same period in 2007. More »
- Smart Car Scores Big on Cute
  
  Washington Post | Jul 18, 08 9:45 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Mercedes’ Smart cars are selling brilliantly—the US waiting list is 30,000 long—and the tiny two-seater's performance at the gas pump isn't the whole story. Yes, they’re the most fuel-efficient non-hybrids around, but only barely—some Hondas and Toyotas almost match their 33mpg. There's also the cute factor, the Washington Post reports. “The Jeep was stylish,” says one SUV convert, “but I never got the attention before that I get with this.” More »
- Gas Crunch Steers Soaring Hybrid Sales
  
  Wired | Jul 17, 08 10:45 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Sales of hybrid cars could soar to 2 million a year by 2013 as higher gas prices and concerns about global warming spark surging interest in fuel efficient vehicles, Wired reports. Well over half—62%—of new car buyers are already considering a hybrid, according to a recent survey. Consumers who aren't satisfied with the current hybrid options will have as many as 88 models to choose from in the next few years. More »
- GM Will Cut Salaried Jobs, Benefits to Survive Slump
  
  Wall Street Journal | Jul 15, 08 9:42 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - General Motors will cut salaried jobs, accelerate factory closings, and eliminate health care coverage for many salaried retirees in order to raise $15 billion to survive the industry's deep downturn, the Wall Street Journal reports. GM will also suspend dividends, sell some assets, lower capital spending, and cut production of pickup trucks and SUVs. More »
- Rental Biz Sees Small-Car Shortage
  
  Los Angeles Times | Jul 14, 08 6:43 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Rental car companies can't meet the soaring demand for more fuel-efficient small cars and are forcing irritated customers to take "upgrades" to gas-guzzlers. Rocketing gas prices are putting pressure on Hertz, Avis, and other companies to sell their luxury cars and SUVs to pay for fuel-efficient models. Bookings for economy cars at one major travel agency were up 14% while the demand for luxury cars plummeted 24%. More »
- Keep the Hummer: Save America's Soul
  
  Washington Post | Jul 12, 08 2:00 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Sure, the Hummer is more of a "cartoon" than a vehicle, a ridiculously over-the-top gas-guzzling monstrosity. But the unbridled optimism it takes to manufacture it—and to fill up the tank—is what makes it uniquely American, writes Matthew DeBord in the Washington Post . If GM axes it, or, heaven forfend, takes it hybrid, we’ll lose yet another chip off the American soul. It's just too cool to die. More »
- GOP Must Strike Back in the 'Burbs
  
  National Review | Jul 11, 08 4:45 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The GOP coalition—seemingly indomitable 4 years ago—is in shambles, losing ground “on nearly every demographic and geographic front,” write Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam in the National Review . Republicans must expand their base, and the writers have a plan: Seduce “the affluent, well-educated, increasingly liberal upper middle class.” More »
- The Good in $4 Gas
  
  Time | Jul 2, 08 12:03 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The rest of the world may have thought it would never happen, but energy prices are beginning to change Americans' behavior. Time notes some positive aspects: Jobs lost to globalization return, because energy costs make international shipping unattractive. Suburban sprawl is slowing as people choose to live closer to cities. Many firms are switching to four-day workweeks—the practice saved Florida's Brevard College $268,000 over a summer session. Less pollution as motorists drive less … …and more frugally, both in how they drive and what they drive. More »