60 Minutes : The Thrill Of The SUV

CBS News ^ | July 13, 2003 | Morley Safer, Correspondent

[newgeezer]

Most SUV owners believe bigger is always better.  (Photo: 60 Minutes/CBS)



"Cars are very key. They are an expression of myself. You know, this is maybe the best way for Americans to express themselves.”
Dr. Clotaire Rapaille

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The Thrill Of The SUV
July 13, 2003


If you drive an SUV, a sport utility vehicle, you may be feeling a little defensive these days.

According to some, you're not only unpatriotic and un-Christian, you're ruining the environment. You're also selfish and stupid and dangerous - a rollover waiting to happen.

So, are SUV owners sheepishly surrendering to more sensible cars? Hardly.

As 60 Minutes reported a few months ago, there's no end in sight to America's love affair with size and horsepower. Correspondent Morley Safer reports.

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Ah, the thrill of the open road - if you can find one. Roads are more and more congested and the vehicles they carry grow ever larger. Today, the family car is no longer a modest station wagon, but a Suburban, a Yukon, or an Excursion or a Land Rover or an Escalade.

By and large, SUV owners seem a contented lot, lording it over the common herd, proud of the status symbols they captain to the shopping mall or the grocery store.

Urban and suburban guerilla groups, like an outfit called "Earth On Empty," are waging a losing battle, ticketing SUV's and citing drivers for their selfishness.

In California, a group called "Changing the Climate" uses bumper stickers to make its voice heard. And then there are the TV ads.

On the radio you can get another earful from the hosts of NPR's "Car Talk" -- Tom and Ray Magliozzi. On their Web site, the Car Talk brothers feature nine downsides to driving an SUV, including "Other people on the road may hate you." SUV owners are not amused.

“They hate us,” says Tom Magliozzi. “All the vitriolic responses that we get.”

But the Car Talk guys' disdain seems futile, even with rising gas prices. With gas still costing less than bottled water, most Americans have shown little interest in more fuel-efficient cars and the auto makers happily comply.

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SUV's are the fastest growing segment of the car market. There are almost 70 different macho models to choose from and they are the mother lode of profitability. George Peterson does market research for all the major manufacturers.

“Let's take Ford, for example, the industry says that Ford is probably making $5,000 on each Explorer sold. So then you have an Expedition that sells for, let's say, $30,000 to $40,000. They're making $10,000 a unit on that. And they may be making as much as $20,000 a unit on a Navigator,” says Peterson. “That’s real money.”

And that's music to manufacturers' ears. There's the $90,000 Mercedes and a brand new Porsche is on the market. What is this need that Americans seem to have to be seen to be ready to conquer Everest or the Sahara?

Dr. Clotaire Rapaille, a psychologist, makes a living explaining that need to major corporations like the Detroit "Big Three" and European auto-makers.

“The notion of need is very, very interesting. Because what do we really need, you see? I need food, I need water. I need shelter,” says Rapaille. “And you know that, but then there are other needs, needs of identity. Needs of communication. Needs of being loved, being respected.”

And the need for cars.

“Absolutely. Cars are very key,” adds Rapaille. “They are an expression of myself. You know, this is maybe the best way for Americans to express themselves.”

That's why ads show SUV's bouncing up mountains and fording streams, even though the automakers know only about five percent of owners ever go off-road. The reality is that the two-ton, four-wheel-drive behemoth carries more carrots than climbing gear, and it's just the ticket for lugging that ton of household bills.

Rapaille no longer sees patients. He doesn't need to, because he’s paid well to supply his insights to corporate America - and lives in baronial splendor outside of New York City.

Apart from Ford, GM and Chrysler, he's advised companies like Kelloggs, Kraft, and Proctor & Gamble. They pay him to get inside the deepest recesses of our brains. In fact, he's known as the "car shrink" in Detroit.

“Why do you buy a car that doesn't even make 10 miles per gallon, doesn't fit into your garage? Do you really need that? And you don't need that intellectually,” he says. “But at the reptilian level, what I call the reptilian level, the reptilian brain, the deepest part of you, the gut level if you want, you feel like you need that.”

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If Rapaille were an SUV, he'd be a Freud Explorer. He says people are completely unaware of the subconscious, reptilian reasons why they're drawn to SUVs.

“I don't believe what people say. They have a good alibi. They have a way to explain things to make them feel comfortable about what they're to do anyways,” says Rapaille, who believes it’s now considered hip to appear ready to take on anything.

“We are at war. You don't go to war in a Pinto or in a little Volkswagen. You want a tank, you want, you know, and I told the people there in Detroit, you know, SUVs - you put a machine gun on the top, you're going to sell them better, you know”

With or without a machine gun, people do say they feel more secure in an SUV – that it sits higher up, and people can see a lot more.

“Don't you think this is a fantastic alibi,” asks Rapaille.

“Why? Taller. Stronger. I mean, the elephant, the bigger you are, the more chance you have to survive. Now, we know that the higher you are, more chance you have to roll over. And we know that SUVs have a higher rate of accident for rollover than other cars. I mean a Porsche is a lot less chance to roll over than an SUV. That's at the cortex, which means people know it but they don't refer to it because there's something stronger which is the reptilian- the bigger, the tallest, and more chance to survive.”

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Hummer means lobster in German, but in cash, it means $50,000 to more than $100,000 a copy. It's a favorite of such survivalists as Hollywood actors and New York stockbrokers.

Hummer's commercials pitch the fantasy, and dealerships across the country can't keep them in stock. You can now spot them everywhere, going down city streets, the owners scanning the horizon for a wall to conquer.

“This is America. Bigger is always better. So Hummer is big,” says Rapaille. “One key element here is that outside, this is Mad Max. That's the code, you know.”

“Survival is key, you don't know what is going to happen. You know, is he going to attack you? You don't know if this next guy is going to be drunk and bump into you. And so you want to be square, you want to have a message. Don't mess with me because I can crush you, I can kill you right away, so don't approach me, hah? That's strong. So menacing. The Hummer is menacing.”

And George Peterson agrees that menace is a great selling point.

“One woman said, “I bought my SUV so I can take it down into midtown, and there's not gonna be a taxi on the road that's gonna push me around.’”


© MMIII, CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved.

[newgeezer]

I had to laugh at Rapaille the "psychologist" whose apparently made millions telling the car companies what everyone already knows, wrapping it in some "reptilian" gobbledygook. (No matter what they say, 99% of the people who buy SUVs do it because they think they're macho, popular, and they want to be seen in them. Duh.)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, already. You're part of that 1% who doesn't, okay? ;O)

[Support Free Republic]

Hint! Hint!Hint! Hint!Hint! Hint!

[Dan from Michigan]

I got a good deal on the last 2 SUV's I had. I also need the 4 wheel since I'm often on dirt/mud roads and snowy areas in the winter time.

Besides, I like pissing off lefties.

[ambrose]

A gluttonous vehicle for our gluttonous times.

[oceanview]

and they aren't even safe, at least the American ones. Have you ever seen the crash video on a Yukon or F150 pickup? Scary.

[Gorzaloon]

– that it sits higher up, and people can see a lot more

People buy SUV's so they can see around SUV's.

[c-b 1]

Today, the family car is no longer a modest station wagon, but a Suburban, a Yukon, or an Excursion or a Land Rover or an Escalade.

Give me a break! You can't buy a modest station wagon. These same anti-america greens whined, and screamed back in the 70s until the government forced the manufacturers to shrink everything down to where you can't buy a real car. What do they expect people to do?

[isthisnickcool]

I have a really happy friend. He is so happy it's fun to see how happy he is. Why is he so happy?

He owns a Hummer dealership.

[mommybain]

I had to laugh at Rapaille the "psychologist" whose apparently made millions telling the car companies what everyone already knows

Not only is he telling the car companies what everyone already knows, he's telling their subsidiaries, along with other corporations. The company I work for (a subsidiary of a big-3 auto maker...look up Ditech.com and read the fine print, you'll figure it out) is basing it's entire marketing and operating plan on this man's "reptilian" gobbledygook.

Wanna be happy? Buy a car with a "happy face"!!!! Wanna know why the remade Ford Thunderbird tanked? Look at it's face. That's why! Wanna know why SUVs are selling? Simple. Survival of the fittest on the road. SUVs appeal to your "reptilian" brain...survival. I've heard this stuff at work for 3 years now, and all I do is write programs to maintain car insurance policies (until my job gets shipped to India thanks to H1-B.)

[Paul Atreides]

By and large, SUV owners seem a contented lot, lording it over the common herd, proud of the status symbols they captain to the shopping mall or the grocery store.

I was wondering how long it would take them to bring class envy into it.

[goodnesswins]

YEAH...what YOU said....I'm walking today because of a '91 Ford Explorer....which, when stopped at a light, with ME in it, was hit twice.....and lived to tell about it. Did about $10K damage....glad I wasn't driving our little '83 Honda Accord - I'd have been thrown into oncoming traffic.....and NOT be here, I believe. Go POUND sand, you who criticize SUV's.....I haul the grandkids around, have camped in it, and it's still going strong at age 12. /RANT

[ChadsDad]

I'm on my third Suburban. I can haul a lot of Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Soccer crap, baseball crap, science projects, camping gear, etc., and pull all my trailers. I love the vehicle, and I don't need to explain why to anyone. You drive what you want, and I promise not to notice...

[ChadsDad]

I'm on my third Suburban. I can haul a lot of Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Soccer crap, baseball crap, science projects, camping gear, etc., and pull all my trailers. I love the vehicle, and I don't need to explain why to anyone. You drive what you want, and I promise not to notice...

[Parley Baer]

I just bought a used 2000 Tahoe with 4 wheel drive and the Z71 suspension. This is the best vehicle I have owned yet. If any of the greenies don't like it I will show them what my 5 cell MagLite looks like. Parley

[Paul Atreides]

If they're going to squawk about people's transportation, they need to squawk about liberals running around in private jets, stretch limos, and a certain congresswoman being chauffered to work when she only lives a block away. That's not to mention an ex-president galivanting all over the world for golfing trips. Let the working man keep his SUV!

[Miss Marple]

Of course! Of course, my SUV isn't very imposing, since it is a 91 Ford Explorer that now is starting to rust. On the plus side it has 300,000 miles on the original engine and transmission.

I have an SUV so that I can haul things and get my disabled mother and her wheelchair into the vehicle comfortably. We have hauled brush, a girls' soccer team, a riding lawnmower, and large dogs.

Without my Explorer, we would have had to buy both a sedan and a pickup. I consider our purchase to be economical.

Also, I am short and I like being up high. I cannot normally see oncoming traffic if someone is opposite me when I am turning left.

If they ban SUV's, I will buy a pick-up.

[The Brush]

I hate smoking and SUV's but I bought one and I smoke to pi$$ of Liberals, it's nice to know it's working!

[oceanview]

and you think that Tahoe is safe, right? Check out the photo at the right of the page:

http://www.whnet.com/4x4/crashes.html

scroll further down to look at the F150. The F150 frame is the basis for the Expedition.

[Rate_Determining_Step]

Tom & Ray are anti-car guys. Oh sure, the talk a good game and I do think they're quite funny, but they hate anything worthy on the road. From high HP cars to SUVs. If it ain't some Volvo S70 or Subaru Outback granola car, they just can't stand it.

-RDS
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[stylin19a]

I'm just about ready to buy an SUV....strictly for denfensive purposes. I can't see much forward/back/left or right on the road anymore. I have a devil of time getting out of a parking place in any mall parking lot.

I'm suppose they could've used the "Hummer means Clinton in American-English" definition.