GasBuddy Blog

Message Forum - Read Message

Category: Daily News Article Discussions > Topics	Add to favorite topics

Author	Topic: Other Side of the Road	Post a Reply Back to Topics

dasAuto All-Star Author Regina Posts:698 Points:501,545 Joined:Jan 2009	Message Posted: Jan 11, 2013 11:20:26 AM Ignore dasAuto Report Abuse In North America, the Wagon Train effectively reached its terminus in the early to mid-1990s. SUVs and crossovers such as the Ford Explorer, Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V colonised suburban driveways, displacing the family truckster from its modest pedestal. The reasons for this shift are varied, but a broad, cynical view is simply that automakers saw bigger profits in building bigger vehicles. Wagons never commanded significant premiums over the sedans on which they were traditionally based, rendering their makers’ incentive to build them slim. Visit BBC Auto for full article

dasAuto

All-Star Author
Regina

Posts:698
Points:501,545
Joined:Jan 2009

Message Posted: Jan 11, 2013 11:20:26 AM

Ignore dasAuto Report Abuse

In North America, the Wagon Train effectively reached its terminus in the early to mid-1990s.

SUVs and crossovers such as the Ford Explorer, Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V colonised suburban driveways, displacing the family truckster from its modest pedestal. The reasons for this shift are varied, but a broad, cynical view is simply that automakers saw bigger profits in building bigger vehicles. Wagons never commanded significant premiums over the sedans on which they were traditionally based, rendering their makers’ incentive to build them slim.
Visit BBC Auto for full article

REPLIES (newest first)Ignore Short Messages

lesndave Champion Author Texas Posts:3,017 Points:696,405 Joined:May 2011	Message Posted: Jan 11, 2013 11:39:29 PM Ignore lesndave Report Abuse Yes
Ply440GTX All-Star Author Texas Posts:945 Points:308,825 Joined:Feb 2009	Message Posted: Jan 11, 2013 9:42:44 PM Ignore Ply440GTX Report Abuse Brits... Whateva!
VomVom Champion Author Calgary Posts:3,857 Points:1,627,080 Joined:May 2007	Message Posted: Jan 11, 2013 6:02:34 PM Ignore VomVom Report Abuse Profit margins for trucks and SUVs are a lot higher than cars and wagons.
PathfinderSC Champion Author South Carolina Posts:9,496 Points:1,826,640 Joined:Mar 2008	Message Posted: Jan 11, 2013 5:57:08 PM Ignore PathfinderSC Report Abuse Going to get a smaller SUV.
cmgodwin All-Star Author Raleigh Posts:893 Points:278,450 Joined:Dec 2011	Message Posted: Jan 11, 2013 5:50:24 PM Ignore cmgodwin Report Abuse Are SUVs more profitable to automakers than wagons/estates? How does gas mileage compare?
mkohly Veteran Author Chicago Posts:261 Points:23,980 Joined:Sep 2009	Message Posted: Jan 11, 2013 2:20:20 PM Ignore mkohly Report Abuse Correction Normal people don't try to speak for all normal people
MrDeath666 Champion Author Houston Posts:1,591 Points:239,215 Joined:Sep 2012	Message Posted: Jan 11, 2013 1:06:41 PM Ignore MrDeath666 Report Abuse Normal people will always like big cars & trucks.
Bussman Champion Author Dallas Posts:5,497 Points:1,355,960 Joined:Nov 2008	Message Posted: Jan 11, 2013 12:56:34 PM Ignore Bussman Report Abuse Speaking as one who owned a couple of SUVs and now does not, I think the SUV phenomenon followed the Baby Boom. When I needed a larger vehicle to transport my expanded family, friends, animals, and assorted sporting equipment, an SUV suited my situation better than a sedan or a station wagon. I became more cognisant of spousal and child safety and the need to be able to see beyond the rear window of the sedan in front of me by way of increased vehicle height. All the aforementioned combined with an aging infrastructure and ineffective government that left potholes rivalling the Grand Canyon led me to SUVs which I felt could satisfy all my needs in exchange for a measelly 16mpg. When my needs changed my vehicle choice changed and I now drive an economical sedan praying I can drive around the ever-expanding potholes rather than disappearing into them as our ineffective government talks about shovel-ready projects but does nothing about them.
mfgendron All-Star Author New York Posts:669 Points:305,860 Joined:Sep 2008	Message Posted: Jan 11, 2013 12:27:52 PM Ignore mfgendron Report Abuse Yeah big station wagons.... more gas guzzlers.
kag2010 Champion Author Winnipeg Posts:5,234 Points:1,015,760 Joined:Apr 2010	Message Posted: Jan 11, 2013 12:16:01 PM Ignore kag2010 Report Abuse Saw bigger profits in building bigger..
Wally3023 Champion Author Pennsylvania Posts:2,014 Points:535,605 Joined:Sep 2011	Message Posted: Jan 11, 2013 12:10:44 PM Ignore Wally3023 Report Abuse That's all my Dad ever bought.
knutzAL Champion Author Alabama Posts:2,248 Points:372,680 Joined:Feb 2012	Message Posted: Jan 11, 2013 12:09:54 PM Ignore knutzAL Report Abuse yup
truvoice1 Champion Author San Diego Posts:1,273 Points:470,040 Joined:Feb 2011	Message Posted: Jan 11, 2013 12:06:03 PM Ignore truvoice1 Report Abuse If you look at the evolution of the station wagon here in America, when Ford came out with the Explorer in 1990, it became the new American station wagon. SUVs like the Explorer offered Americans advantages over the traditional station wagon: higher ground clearance and better driver visibility due to being built on a truck chassis; availability of 4 wheel drive for off road versatility; and luxury options that were mostly unavailable in the normal station wagon. Unlike Europe with higher fuel prices, Americans were willing pay the penalty of lower MPG for the aforementioned benefits. In Europe, with narrower roads and high gasoline prices, the American type of SUV never was the best solution for their driving requirements.
rastadok Veteran Author Florida Posts:275 Points:8,920 Joined:Oct 2012	Message Posted: Jan 11, 2013 12:04:55 PM Ignore rastadok Report Abuse As long as I've been alive the station wagon - other than the Woody on the West Coast - have been the least sexy of any motor vehicle. Like the riding lawn mower, they were the ultimate practical middle class icon - that is to say, BORING. SUV's on the other hand are the modern day driver's answer to penis envy - or to perceived micropenis. Motor vehicles are still more an item of psychological enhancement - than practicality.
boatcatawba Sophomore Author Cleveland Posts:201 Points:141,160 Joined:Dec 2012	Message Posted: Jan 11, 2013 12:03:23 PM Ignore boatcatawba Report Abuse ok
moregas1966 All-Star Author Columbus Posts:680 Points:135,330 Joined:Dec 2012	Message Posted: Jan 11, 2013 12:03:11 PM Ignore moregas1966 Report Abuse ok
bouncing4fun All-Star Author Sacramento Posts:587 Points:144,765 Joined:Jun 2012	Message Posted: Jan 11, 2013 11:42:39 AM Ignore bouncing4fun Report Abuse ok
humblepie Champion Author Toledo Posts:34,031 Points:2,366,395 Joined:Mar 2006	Message Posted: Jan 11, 2013 11:36:38 AM Ignore humblepie Report Abuse now many hatchbacks fill many of those needs