by asdf
Tue Oct 4th, 2005 at 10:47:44 AM EST
This is relevant in Europe too...from the diaries ~ whataboutbob
Americans are wasteful users of petroleum, that's not under debate. But how fast, in the presence of increasing oil prices, could America change her tune?
"John Mathews of Universal Toyota in San Antonio has witnessed the day that auto industry executives in Detroit said would never come.
"We are seeing people who are driving $40,000 Suburbans trading them in on $15,000 Corollas," said Mathews, who manages a dealership in a state where big trucks and sport-utility vehicles rule the roads. "The last 30 days have been unlike anything I've ever seen in the automotive industry."
"Nationally, Toyota Motor Corp. officials say the Corolla, one of the Japanese company's smallest and most fuel-efficient passenger cars, had 8.7 days' supply of inventory at the end of last week. In the industry, inventory of 50 to 60 days' supply is seen as adequate."
East coast liberals are slowly moving away from their SUVs, too. But where's the real action?
"The trend isn't as pronounced [in DC] as in truck-dominated Texas where people who have been buying trucks for years are rushing to get out of them. "Most of the time you come in here and you might have 80 Corollas to choose from," said Dave Reynolds, general sales manager of Jack Taylor's Alexandria Toyota. "Now you come in and you have 20 to choose from."
How long will it take to sideline all those giant SUVs, and where will they go?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/27/AR2005092701812_pf.html
