Dan Minette wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Julia Thompson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Thursday, January 02, 2003 12:55 PM
> Subject: Re: Exposing the SUV safety Myth
>
> > Erik Reuter wrote:
> > >
> > > On Wed, Jan 01, 2003 at 11:45:52PM -0800, Doug Pensinger wrote:
> > >
> > > > So SUVs pollute more, guzzle more gas, and they aren't very safe, all
> > > > things considered.
> > >
> > > They are better than pickups, so by your argument used elsewhere,
> > > they might encourage some pickup drivers to switch to a better
> > > alternative. And the study didn't include the small SUV class (Toyota
> > > RAV4, Subaru Forester, etc.) which is strange, those seem quite
> popular.
> > >
> > > Also note that subcompact and compact cars are more dangerous than
> SUVs,
> > > especially to their own drivers.
> >
> > Maybe fewer people will be driving pickups on the basis of "pickups are
> > COOL, man!" and more on the basis of actually needing the utility of a
> > pickup.
> >
> > Most of my friends drive cars or SUVs (most of *them* smaller ones, e.g.
> > one family has a Honda SUV), but a couple of them drive pickup trucks,
> > and with good reason. But one of them, before he needed a pickup,
> > drove a car, and expressed to me having a problem with the attitude of a
> > number of guys he'd been to high school with who drove pickups just
> > because they were COOL. It helped drive up the price of pickups, to the
> > detriment of people who didn't have as much money to spend on their
> > vehicles and who *needed* pickups for their work.
>
> I've got a question about that. If more people want pickups, why don't
> companies just make more pickups, instead of raising the margin on each
> one. Do you know that the markup on pickups is substantially greater than
> it is on minivans?
And greater than it is on sedans with pickup truck engines. (Which
Chevy stopped making awhile back, meaning now my car is higher on the
list for ones to be stolen, but at least the engine parts are easily
available when it needs repairs....)
I think they figured out they could raise the margin if people were
buying them for looks instead of utility. Hey, if they're buying a
pickup instead of a Corvette, charge them a price closer to the Corvette
price.
> I've seen that happen, but only for relatively short periods of time, when
> there is a supply/demand imbalance.
I think it was more a market shift than a supply/demand imbalance. If
there are enough people willing to pay $P+X instead of $P, then charge
more than $P, but not more than $P+X.
Julia
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