Jay Honeck wrote:
Americans are a reactive bunch. If prices were to come back down, those
SUVs would probably start flying out the door again. When prices
spiked
back in '03, smaller cars became the top sellers in the U.S., but only
for
about 6 months. As soon as prices came back down, the trucks and SUVs
went
right back to the top of the shopping list.

That's because trucks and SUVs are more useful than itty-bitty cars.

Bottom line: SUVs can do all sorts of things that econocars cannot,
while SUVs can do everything that the econocar can do, better. With one
exception: Fuel consumption.

I think we'll see a short-term boom for small-car manufacturers, as
consumers shift to multiple vehicles, and use the ones that make the
most sense for the task at hand.

I think you are wrong here. Gas is never going to be $2.00/gal again
and probably not $3. Around here, and we are at the low end of the gas
price spectrum, they can't give away all the SUVs that they have taken
in on trade in the last month or two. There is a car lot down the street
from my office and they have prices slashed on the things. When I say
slashed I'm talking 30 - 50% below current Blue-book.

There is a middle ground between SUVs and econocars. That middle ground
is good old mid-size and even large cars. I'd bet that 90% of the SUVs
on the road could be replaced by those cars and with the exception of
soccer Mom's having to spend 30 more seconds properly loading the trunk
they would see no difference in utility.