Sport Utility Vehicle Essay -- Vehicles, Cars and Trucks

For as long as there have been roads to drive on, Americans have had a love affair with their cars and trucks. Ever since consumers became interested in car design and styling in the 1920s, the car manufactures have invested in innovation to quench the thirst of the American car buyer (Pauwels, Silva-Risso, Srinivasan, and Hassens, 2004, p. 143). When I was young, September was the time of year when the car manufactures showcased the new models, generating excitement and of course new sales. In the 1990s and 2000s, a new breed of vehicle was introduced, the sport utility vehicle (SUV). This was a marketing term for vehicles similar to the station wagons of the 70s but built on a truck chassis. These vehicles were perceived as rugged and capable of being used off road. Since they were considered trucks, they were less regulated as cars and had poor fuel economy. Nevertheless, these vehicles grew in popularity due to their versatility and low gas prices at the time. However, gas prices in the United States increased in the summer of 2003 before declining in the fall of the year to levels that prevailed in the spring of 2003. Gas prices began another increasing trend in January 2004, which lasted through May of that year before beginning to moderate once again. The average per gallon price reached in May 2004 was 39.1 percent higher than the May 2003 average, and the May 2004 average was 22.5 percent higher than the average price reached in September 2003 (United States Department of Energy, 2011) A reasonable expectation is that increases of this magnitude in gas prices would motivate consumers to purchase more fuel-efficient vehicle for their transportation needs. The trend during the 1990s in the United States had been char... ...data reported year over year sales decreases for full size SUVs. Examples of their reporting includes a decrease of sales for Ford Expedition of 33.6%, Cadillac Escalade down 16.3%, and Chevrolet Tahoe down 11.9% (Healey, & Eldridge, 2004, pp. 10). Today, with gas prices hovering between $3 and $4 per gallon, the customer demand for SUVs has moved from full-sized SUVs to the more fuel midsized and crossover economical models where miles per gallon is significantly higher than models sold in 2003, generally offsetting the increases of gas prices. In general, this hypothesis test along with the supporting data validated that there was a correlation between the price of gas and the sales of full-size SUVs by way of increased manufacture price incentives. This correlation could have been used to direct corporate strategies for future models in the SUV market class. Sport Utility Vehicle Essay -- Vehicles, Cars and Trucks For as long as there have been roads to drive on, Americans have had a love affair with their cars and trucks. Ever since consumers became interested in car design and styling in the 1920s, the car manufactures have invested in innovation to quench the thirst of the American car buyer (Pauwels, Silva-Risso, Srinivasan, and Hassens, 2004, p. 143). When I was young, September was the time of year when the car manufactures showcased the new models, generating excitement and of course new sales. In the 1990s and 2000s, a new breed of vehicle was introduced, the sport utility vehicle (SUV). This was a marketing term for vehicles similar to the station wagons of the 70s but built on a truck chassis. These vehicles were perceived as rugged and capable of being used off road. Since they were considered trucks, they were less regulated as cars and had poor fuel economy. Nevertheless, these vehicles grew in popularity due to their versatility and low gas prices at the time. However, gas prices in the United States increased in the summer of 2003 before declining in the fall of the year to levels that prevailed in the spring of 2003. Gas prices began another increasing trend in January 2004, which lasted through May of that year before beginning to moderate once again. The average per gallon price reached in May 2004 was 39.1 percent higher than the May 2003 average, and the May 2004 average was 22.5 percent higher than the average price reached in September 2003 (United States Department of Energy, 2011) A reasonable expectation is that increases of this magnitude in gas prices would motivate consumers to purchase more fuel-efficient vehicle for their transportation needs. The trend during the 1990s in the United States had been char... ...data reported year over year sales decreases for full size SUVs. Examples of their reporting includes a decrease of sales for Ford Expedition of 33.6%, Cadillac Escalade down 16.3%, and Chevrolet Tahoe down 11.9% (Healey, & Eldridge, 2004, pp. 10). Today, with gas prices hovering between $3 and $4 per gallon, the customer demand for SUVs has moved from full-sized SUVs to the more fuel midsized and crossover economical models where miles per gallon is significantly higher than models sold in 2003, generally offsetting the increases of gas prices. In general, this hypothesis test along with the supporting data validated that there was a correlation between the price of gas and the sales of full-size SUVs by way of increased manufacture price incentives. This correlation could have been used to direct corporate strategies for future models in the SUV market class.