We are in a gas crisis in all but the name, gas in my area is over $6 a gallon and even in states where it's normally "cheap" (taxpayer subsidized) it's still well over $4. Its been six years since COVID and since then we saw it peak, drop to slightly lower but still higher than ever before covid, and now this. It also appears that gas, even if it does go down, will never be "cheap" again.
and yet, even with all of that I still see new giant cars rolling off the logs. Giant Santa Fes, brand new F150s, brand new plates. People are still buying these. Not luxury "I can spend whatever I want" rich folks, everyday people buying these things.
What is going on in peoples heads? I know most never take gas into account when buying a car and then are all shocked pikachu at the pump, but seriously even now it's not an issue?
I have seen maybe, maybe one new car that was a hybrid out of my anecdotal experience. No one considering those, or an EV, or god forbid biking or taking transit. (In my area both are very viable alternatives).
I'm just so exasperated at how stupid people are being. They think 50k for a car is expensive and then never take into account what powers the damn thing.
Thanks for listening to my rant.
My understanding is that dealerships have historically enjoyed larger markups on big vehicles and have therefore pushed them. When people complained "But I can't afford that!", they said it's okay because they'll lease finance it so that you're essentially subscribing to rather than owning the vehicle. More $ still for the dealer.
Now with EVs, apparently the math changes. Big vehicles actually cost a lot more to produce because batteries are expensive. So smaller cars hit the sweet spot. Yet in North America, the auto sector remains fixated on big and are trying to build giant EVs nobody wants and that probably won't sell.