The Top 10 Best Selling Cars of 2008 list has been released. They are:
1. Ford F-Series
1. Ford F-Series
2. Chevy Silverado
3. Toyota Camry
4. Honda Accord
5. Toyota Corolla
5. Toyota Corolla
6. Honda Civic
7. Nissan Altima
8. Chevy Impala
9. Dodge Ram
10. Honda CR-V
My Take: WHAT?!?!? You mean that even over a year with record breaking gas prices, the fear of global warming, a recession, American's are still buying a gas-guzzling truck? Three trucks make the list and a mid-sized SUV? What happened to MSNBC's prediction of the Toyota Prius being the #1 sedan? Not on the list. If there was any year that hybrids or fuel efficient cars would logically be top sellers, it would be 2008! The demand is not there. For whatever reason, the buying public is not interested in the 'green' cars. When we looked at buying a sedan, my husband set up a spreadsheet to see how cost-efficient it would be for us to buy a Honda Civic Hybrid, as opposed to the regular (still semi-fuel efficient) model. He figured it would take us over 10 years to break even, figuring how much we spend on gas. Besides your home, buying a car is the next biggest investment, which purchase everyone considers all aspects seriously. I just found it post-worthy that the majority of American's are still willing to buy a large, fuel-inefficient truck. What do you think?
6 comments:
I'll just make a quick comment about the Honda Hybrid- if you want better gas mileage, you should go with the Prius. Honda's put all of that Hybrid power into more horsepower, whereas Toyota put it all into better gas mileage. So while you will get better power with the Honda, you won't get better gas mileage.
The Ford F-150 has been the #1 selling car EVERY MONTH for like the past 30 years, until October when it was beat by the smaller cars. I, unfortunatley, don't see Americans changing their old habits anytime soon- as soon as the gas prices went back down, I saw the Hemi's back on the road again (which makes me really sad, because that is such a rediculous car). The Europeans have had $8.00/gallon gas for years and years, that's why I think they are so far ahead of the game then we are. As long as gas prices stay low, Americans will buy the big ones.
Americans love their BIG things. They love big houses and big trucks and expensive hand bags and BIG BIG credit card bills. I'm not even surprised one bit. Ironically, due to the economy, I see people really slowing down on their BIG obsession. When I see someone with a Coach or LV purse or an over-the-top luxury car, I think "what a pitty" instead of "my husband makes good money and we can't even afford that, HOW DO THEY DO IT?" Times are changing, it will be interesting to see what car wins out next year. However, I do think that the truck will always be at the top. Too many farmers and too many guys with small.......fill in the dots.
Johnson's?;0)
HA HA HA HA!!!
What is scary to me is the dependence America has on foreign oil. Short term, I am less concerned about the Earth (though we recycle as much as we can and try to be efficient in our driving habits) than I am about how vulnerable it makes us to the whims of the Middle East. I am hoping for more wonderfully fuel efficient cars to be available in the near future so we can stop pumping so much money over there. I am always amazed at the shortness of American's (at least the media's) memory.
Seeing how my husband is a Ford Diesel Mechanic I can tell you that MANY of the F-Series trucks that are sold are sold to companies for their fleets. A Prius isn't exactly going to haul a trailer full of horses across the country for you. Nor can the farmer who supplies our food, pack his tools in it. Nor can you drive a school bus or airport shuttle with a Prius engine. You know? I don't know the stats, but I'm willing to bet that a good portion of the trucks that are sold are sold for these purposes. These trucks 'working' trucks pay my mortgage. And there will always be a huge need for them. Thank goodness.
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