Posted on 04/07/2018 9:56:30 AM PDT by upchuck
After a century of ferrying millions of daily commuters and taking countless family road trips, simple passenger cars are disappearing from American life, and they may not come back.
Detroit's Big Three automakers — Chrysler, Ford and General Motors — pioneered the mass production of the car, but in just four years, all three may be known to Americans simply as truck and SUV makers, with only a stray sedan for sale.
The automotive industry in America is making what many observers think is an irrevocable shift toward pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles and crossovers. While carmakers are producing sedans and sports cars that are safer, faster and more comfortable than ever, customers continue to flock to taller vehicles with features cars simply cannot offer.
"Since 2009 or 2010 it has been a truck story," said Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting at LMC Automotive, which tracks the auto industry. The exception was a slight pullback in 2012, when the midsize car segment underwent a major refresh, he said.
The trend shows no sign of abating, despite cries from car enthusiasts that crossovers lack the driving dynamics of sedans and complaints from environmentalists that SUVs and trucks are typically less fuel-efficient than cars.
By 2022, LMC Automotive estimates 84 percent of the vehicles General Motors sells in the U.S. market will be some kind of truck or SUV. Ford's ratio of domestic SUV and truck sales will hit 90 percent; Fiat Chrysler's will notch a whopping 97 percent.
"We have SUVs eventually crossing the 50 percent threshold by themselves in the near future," Schuster said.
Signs suggest SUVs and crossovers are also taking hold elsewhere in the world.
Automotive executives and industry watchers think there will be only a small space for sedans in the U.S., perhaps consisting mostly of sports cars or niche vehicles favored by enthusiasts.
A few factors that drove this unprecedented shift can be attributed to gas prices, a stronger economy and big improvements in the design of sport utility vehicles, said Karl Brauer, executive publisher at Cox Automotive.
"It was really a one-two-three punch," Brauer said. "Essentially every force lined up to help SUVs, and that has been hurting car sales."
More at the link.
They seen unusually prone to rust. I’ve had to do a lot of patch panels to eliminate rust. Where I live in Washington state they don’t use much salt on the roads but it’s a very wet climate.
I’ve also had to beef up the suspension and brakes to make it more contemporary. It sure is a blast to drive!
To be honest, yes, but not as often as I do. ;>)
The five best-selling SUVs in America are 178-185 inches long, about the length of Civics or Corollas.
(Rav4, Rogue, CR-V, Escape, Equinox)
They do make great trucks.
Then it’s not really a Ranger. It’s a F150 with 2 inches shaved off the lenghth.
For size comparison, most of the world can get a Ram 700 which starts at about 175” in length. The new midsize Ranger will start about two and a half feet longer than that.
Where I live people spend $50,000 on a pickup or Jeep with all the off-road equipment, and then they baby the crap out of them. They will never be taken off toad and they will park in the far corner of a giant parking lot so their precious babies don’t get scratched or dirty. Same thing with Hummers when those were popular. I still see Hummers on the road that look like they just rolled off the showroom floor, and didn’t they stop making them about 10 years ago?
And the new Ranger will cost $10,000 more than a Ford's entry-level car, the Fiesta.
In 1983 the Ford Ranger was introduced with a base MSRP of $6203. That same year, Ford's entry-level Escort had a base price of $6052.
I have one of those Jeeps!
I think a freeper here called it a “Pavement Princess.”
I love it.
CNBC and Robert Ferris are completely wrong. He is simply giving approved messages from the government, such as “Oil is a limited, fossil fuel.”
Cars sold in 2017 = 1,374,507.
Light duty trucks sold in 2017 = 2,736,308
Some car sales are down 10% compared to twelve months ago, probably because of political correctness (Ford) and boring cars (Hyundai). Volvo sales are up 200%. Amazing.
My point exactly!
I have a couple of vintage jeep products.
Like typical jeeps of the good old days, they keep my pockets empty. Just Empty Every Pocket applies.
oh my lord - no wonder my son in law keeps asking me when my business will sell the 97 Tacoma extended cab, with bedliner, and shell. ( meticulous records ) I told him we‘d want 3,000 for it
my sweet ‘94 Mercury Capri 2 passenger convertible (basically a Mazda Miata) gets me to and from the golf course just fine!
No I have all black leather Cherokee Sahara Altitude Unlimited.
Very Butch in a Pavement Princess sort of way.
The Taurus' are under powered and over accessorized (SHO excluded) so no one wants to buy them. I test drove one last month.
Small cars, mandated by Obama, in over sized bodies. Like the latest generation, full size without full capacity; millennial mobiles.
That is what I am hearing.
Just lost maps and I understand that instead of the normal software update, I am supposed to replace the whole system.
Indeed, on my 2015 Honda Fit, it's really hard to roll the vehicle (despite its high height for such a small car) because its center-mounted fuel tank results in a very low center of gravity.
I think they would do well to offer a shorter ranger without a second row of seats.
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