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I've learned not to make strong predictions in advance, but, given my long-standing taste in vehicles, I'll probably still be driving something in the upmarket-sedan class.....the softer and cushier the seats/suspension/tires, the better. I like an isolated ride, as free from road-shocks as possible.
I think small and mid-size Trucks will be the next big thing.
They continue to get more luxurious and performance oriented.
I think the new Mercedes Xclass truck will sell like crazy.
They should also do a truck based on new Gwagon. Women love these things.
Ford can’t keep Raptors in stock.
A recession or a major conflict in the Middle East will move people back to cars and wagons.
That's the traditional line of thought, but it doesn't take into account two things. First, that many SUVs, today, especially smaller car-based ones, get equal or better mileage than sedans, and Second, because of increased oil drilling, fracking, shale production, and refinery construction, the U.S. and Canada are not as dependent on crude oil from the Mid-East as they were decades ago, at the height of OPEC's cartel-strength.
I'm a big fan of wagons with higher ground clearance like the V90 Cross Country and the A6 Allroad. You get the clean aero, lower fuel consumption and better handling from a car body with the higher ground clearance of a crossover. I've never been a fan of the upright SUV/crossover seating position either.
I've scraped the bottom of my ES plenty of times on dirt roads heading up to the mountains. A tall ES hybrid wagon would be perfect, if only Toyota wasn't so darn conservative about different body styles for their global models. Toyota used to make sporty wagons like the Caldina, a sweet gray import model with a turbo engine and AWD.
That's the traditional line of thought, but it doesn't take into account two things. First, that many SUVs, today, especially smaller car-based ones, get equal or better mileage than sedans, and Second, because of increased oil drilling, fracking, shale production, and refinery construction, the U.S. and Canada are not as dependent on crude oil from the Mid-East as they were decades ago, at the height of OPEC's cartel-strength.
Your post is not true and is not considering a number of things. Cars still get better gas mileage and they are also cheaper to purchase. For example, a Buick LaCrosse is cheaper to fuel and purchase than a Buick Enclave.
Another thing happens when the next recession comes around, sales of automobiles as a whole decrease. The lower end cars which are usually smaller are less affected as they have a lower purchase price.
I'm a big fan of wagons with higher ground clearance like the V90 Cross Country and the A6 Allroad. You get the clean aero, lower fuel consumption and better handling from a car body with the higher ground clearance of a crossover. I've never been a fan of the upright SUV/crossover seating position either.
I've scraped the bottom of my ES plenty of times on dirt roads heading up to the mountains. A tall ES hybrid wagon would be perfect, if only Toyota wasn't so darn conservative about different body styles for their global models. Toyota used to make sporty wagons like the Caldina, a sweet gray import model with a turbo engine and AWD.
I see what you are saying about an ES wagon. I think the RX is pretty much a tall sitting wagon. Closer to a car than a real suv like a GX.
Your post is not true and is not considering a number of things. Cars still get better gas mileage and they are also cheaper to purchase. For example, a Buick LaCrosse is cheaper to fuel and purchase than a Buick Enclave.
Another thing happens when the next recession comes around, sales of automobiles as a whole decrease. The lower end cars which are usually smaller are less affected as they have a lower purchase price.
The actual fuel-economy numbers from EPA testing do support much of what I said. You can look them up for yourself, if you want, for specific vehicles.
The full size truck as a family hauler has been the big trend around in my neck of the woods for the past 8-10 years or so.
Specifically one body style, full size, crew cab, short bed. The Tacoma in crew cab/short bed configuration is also extremely popular. A lot of these trucks have a hard tonneau(man that's hard to spell lol) cover on them that is waterproof, the tailgate locks, basically that short bed becomes the world's biggest trunk.
If you don't mind driving something that damn big, the full size trucks now days ride really nice, very quiet, comfortable, tons of space in the cab both front and back seat, they have all the features/technology you can buy in a sedan(if you want to pay for it), they have some really nicely appointed luxury interior options(once again if you want to pay for it). Fuel economy still sucks, but compare it to trucks of the 90's, those did 10-15mpg, now days its more like 15-22mpg, depending on how you option your truck.
IMO you get a lot more bang for your buck utility wise in a mid optioned, $35-40k crew cab truck with cloth seats, V8, kind of minimal options vs an upmarket sedan, which is something like a BMW 328i with a 4 cylinder, maybe in MMarshall's case a fully loaded Buick is about the same price(granted a lot more toys/buttons for that price in the LaCrosse sedan).
I see what you are saying about an ES wagon. I think the RX is pretty much a tall sitting wagon. Closer to a car than a real suv like a GX.
Not quite, the RX has an upright seating position like GX and Land Cruiser. I would prefer a wagon body shape and car-like seating with higher ground clearance.
It's also possible to go the other way and have an SUV/crossover body with low ground clearance, like a Lincoln MKT or Cayenne GTS. The MKT looks plain weird.
The actual fuel-economy numbers from EPA testing do support much of what I said. You can look them up for yourself, if you want, for specific vehicles.
Actually, your link does not support what you said. The standard practice when gas prices go up in addition to a major world event such as recession or middle east conflict is for consumers to down shift to a smaller car that is both more fuel efficient and one that is cheaper to buy, this is for people who are looking to buy a new vehicle at the time. A 2018 Camry at 29/41EPA is clearly a more fuel efficient vehicle than a Rav4 at 23/30EPA despite the same starting MSRP's.
I think you downplay the effects of what a recession does. Demand for all almost all goods go down.
05-18-18, 05:21 PM
First the station wagon, then the SUV. What next?
