« Honda expects a surge in 2008 |
Main
| US Economy Drives Oil Prices Down »
December 14, 2007
It's the biggest cliche in auto journalism: Who needs 4-wheel drive to go to the mall?
Yes, it is customary to mock the ads on TV which disguise suburban mice as 4-wheel drive monsters thundering across the American plain with mesas in the background, or creating rooster tails of snow as they cruise through two feet of the stuff with pine trees in the background.
(Other vehicles are never in the background.)
But after Thursday night's snow storm, many of us were glad we had either 4-wheel or All-wheel drive. It certainly made driving easier and all it took was a couple of 2-wheel/rear drive vehicles getting stuck to hold up traffic and create gridlock for hundreds.
Whether one needs a Hummer for those few days a year when suburban driving does turn into an outdoor adventure is debatable. But that is beside the point.
As was recently pointed out to me by Matt Fields who runs the communications office at Consumer Reports' auto test track in East Haddam, Conn., people don't just buy the vehicles they need; they often buy the vehicles they think they need.
That is one of the great undefinable aspects of auto marketing.
But while gas prices in this country remain half the price of Europe let alone most other nations, it's a fair bet that people will continue to pay the extra dollar for the safety they think they get from the 4-wheel drive and higher visibility of an SUV or crossover or CUV (crossover utility vehicle).
And when it occasionally snows, they will be rewarded.
At the same time, do so many vehicles need to have that third row of seats? I've had a reverse third seat in two Volvo station wagons over the last four years and have hardly ever had to use it despite having a family.
The third row seems to be a hand-down from the minivan, the forerunner to the SUV in terms of popularity, which was specifically designed to be a people pusher. But those third seats, which certainly add to the weight of a vehicle, are beginning to get pretty tight in the crossovers. And are they really used that much?
- Peter C. T. Elsworth
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth 
at 12:32 PM to commentary
| Permalink
Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published.
