What’s a poor Obama to do?
Small Cars Test Ford Resolve
Inventory Climbs on Dealer Lots Amid High-Price Strategy; Will It Curb Output or Discount Sales?
Guess what is selling:
…
Ford’s passenger car sales fell 15 percent in December, while sport-utility vehicle sales rose 16 percent, the company said. Ford brand sales for 2011 were above 2 million for the first time since 2007, the Dearborn, Michigan-based company said last week.
Sales of Ford’s Explorer SUV rose 37 percent and its F- Series pickup gained 24 percent. Fusion, the company’s top- selling car, decreased 4.5 percent and its Fiesta small car was down 30 percent…
Phantom@5:35: Attaboy!
If TJ ever made a winter trip up here he would probably have to re-evaluate his theories as they apply to urban residents only.
~peterj
Surprisingly enough, many of the secondary/residential roads in cities don’t get plowed and people often can’t get to the primary roads without a 4×4 or vehicle with high clearance undercarriage if it snows alot.
Having a BIG vehicle is just sensible in Canada.
TJ >
Yea I donno. my F150 crawls along winter ice and summer mud up back mountain roads hunting and fishing like most cars can’t seem to do all that well.
I do laugh my @ss off driving up and down the highway during a blizzard seeing all the smart people’s cars in the ditch, some waiting over 24 hours for a tow truck.
Couple that with yard work, hauling my own appliances and other miscellaneous garbage chores in and out, it just comes across as not all that helplessly feminine.
PS: My wife wouldn’t trade her F150 for the world either.
It s sad that people deem themselves morally superior to others because they drive a small car. If I were rich I’d buy a new challenger because they are awesome looking and still keep my beat up 96 Sierra (which i had to put a new engine in last year)for pulling my camper, lugging stuff to the dump, hauling my motorcycle, and running my kids to hockey etc. It seems to me that wagging your finger at people who drive trucks is indicative of a neutered self righteous wuss. Drive what you want Im going to keep my truck, if you don’t like it- too bad
when the “car” you drive, the cloths you wear, or the balance in your bank are the that which DICKtate the man you are, YOU are in deep sh!t
Where I live the primary vehicles on the road are trucks and SUV’s. I’d like to have a pickup but for now borrow the neighbor’s F150 when I have to take a load of garden waste to the local composting area. My Grand Cherokee works quite well even though it’s a fairly small SUV. For comfort, nothing beats the Ford Expedition I rented during the move from Vancouver. Had it totally packed with stuff but the drive was a very pleasant one.
For summer driving, I like a car as they corner better than SUV’s and was pleasantly surprised at the Volvo S80 that I rented for a trip to Alberta. Even with my lead-footed driving I got to Calgary on one tank of gas. Felt very good at 180 kph on some of the excellent back roads in S. Alberta but I’d far prefer my SUV in the winter.
As old duffer noted, one needs a variety of vehicles for different purposes. A vehicle such as the S80 is one that wouldn’t go off the highway, but my Grand Cherokee is old enough that it doesn’t bother me to go off road with it. The only thing I wouldn’t drive is some tiny POS that I can’t fit into for starters and secondly it provides absolutely no protection if someone drives into me. Every time I rent a vehicle I make sure to get an SUV or the largest full size car on the rental lot. There were great deals on Navigators last time that I went to rent an SUV but my wife didn’t think her parking skills were good enough for this size of vehicle. Where I live, an F350 fits comfortably into most parking spaces unlike Vancouver. I’ll go back to a bicycle before I’d ever consider getting into a stupid car.
$16,000 for a Jap import Toyota Landcruiser
The best investment in a vehicle I ever made, and the best vehicle I’ve ever owned after Ford and Chev trucks for most of my driving life. The turbo diesel I-4 easily gets 22-25 MPG, and maintenance cost is next to nothing. It’s easy to see why Toyota wasn’t allowed to sell them here. It’s just too bad that N.American manufacturers can’t make a comparable vehicle.