Thursday, September 11, 2014

THE RESURGENCE OF BIG SUVS IN AMERICA - AND BETHESDA

Giant SUVs were thought to have been driven into extinction by the double whammy of the Great Recession and inflated gas prices. Media reports suggest that Americans are desperate to downsize their vehicles and housing. But just as the claim that "the suburbs are dead" proved premature, Summer 2014 auto sales numbers indicate Americans' desire for bigger and better trucks is only growing.

A USA Today article from August 25, 2014 (which appeared only in print, not online), says there is "oversized demand" for the next generation of outsized SUVs. The article cited Autodata figures which showed sales of the redesigned 2015 Cadillac Escalade shot up in July 2014, with twice as many of the yacht-like luxury truck being sold as had been moved last July. Ford Expedition sales were up 59.3%, and GM's Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon sales both notched 50% increases.

In comparison, overall new car sales increased only 9.1%.

Cadillac spokesman David Caldwell told USA Today's James R. Healey that "we just closed the order bank" for the 2015 Escalade, "and we have three times as many orders as we can supply."

The hot truck is a hot seller here in Montgomery County, as well. Patrick Coleman of Jim Coleman Cadillac in Bethesda says, "since the redesign, the new Escalade has had a tremendous amount of attention in our showroom. In fact, we have been unable to keep a supply in stock because the demand has been so high."

Workers at the Arlington, Texas plant where the Escalade is manufactured are now working 3 shifts just to keep up with demand, according to USA Today. Still, many of the Escalades being manufactured are arriving pre-sold at dealerships across the country, with prospective owners placing orders, and waiting for delivery of the SUVs. That can been the case at Jim Coleman as well, where many 2015 Escalades "are actually presold prior to their arrival at the dealership," Patrick Coleman noted.

With demand steady and Cadillac working to meet it, Coleman says the Bethesda dealership expects "sales to continue to be strong into the fall as we get more inventory."

Perhaps most interesting, is the study detailing how Americans use their large SUVs. Are they parking the low-gas-mileage vehicles and boarding public transit? Not according to an analysis by TrueCar.com cited by USA Today.

The top daily uses for large SUVs are shopping/errands (32.2%), commuting (25.3%) and "taking kids to school" (15.2%). Cadillac knows its upscale suburban buyer well, touting the Escalade as "the 420-hp gated community." "Once you've reached the top," Escalade's website argues, "there's only one direction to go - over." Sales figures suggest Americans nationwide - and locally - are doing just that.

Photo courtesy of Cadillac

41 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:26 AM

    Shilling for cigarettes last week, and now mega-SUVs this week.

    Maybe next week we will see an article on the need for strip-mining in Rock Creek Park, or the joys of having water-pistol fights with freon dispensers.

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    1. 5:26 We don't need strip mining in Rock Creek Park, but they do need to reopen Klingle Road.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous5:28 AM

    We get it, you don't like Prius-driving liberals telling you what to do. You'd rather live in a world of inefficient gas guzzling giant cars speeding around on an endless network of highways.

    Word of advice: Use your website to think critically for once, not to poo-poo the opinion of those you characterize as elites simply because they are smarter than you.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. 5:28 Being able to "speed around on an endless network of highways" sounds pretty good compared to the failing transportation system we have now. We have been ranked as the area with the worst traffic congestion in the nation.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous5:30 AM

    This guy is such a joke. It's too bad some Republicans in this county will vote for him in November simply because there's a (R) by his name.

    Clown.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. 5:30 The incumbents haven't been able to get a single major corporation to relocate to the county in over a decade, and have presided over the worst traffic congestion in America, and their own report says MCPS has declined on their watch - and you're saying *I'm* the clown?

      Delete
  4. Anonymous5:35 AM

    How can you claim media reports wrongfully said Americans are downsizing cars, then cherry pick one single media report from last week as evidence that all those previous media reports were wrong?

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    1. 5:35 The reason I can is because I am using actual sales figures, which show the sales growth of large SUVs is outstripping the sales growth of smaller cars this summer.

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  5. Woodmont6:10 AM

    Do you guys live in Bethesda? These huge SUVs are everywhere.

    I don't like it either (I think there are more efficient options), but they are popular here!

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  6. Anonymous6:43 AM

    "Do you guys live in Bethesda? These huge SUVs are everywhere.

    I don't like it either (I think there are more efficient options), but they are popular here!"

    Of course they are. We have wealthy people here who can afford expensive cars. That hardly qualifies as a "resurgence."

    If we're going to base all out opinions on lazy observations, I'd also submit Bethesda (and Chevy Chase) have a very high concentration of Prius and smaller more fuel-efficient vehicles.

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    1. 6:43 Actual sales statistics are not "lazy observations." And sales are up in Bethesda. Obviously, in a wealthier area, the increase is harder to notice. But sales are up here nonetheless.

      Delete
  7. Woodmont6:51 AM

    Hybrid/electric sales are described as a "mixed bag":

    "As for individual models, it was a mixed bag. Sales of Toyota Prius, the most popular hybrid, were 23,437 last month, down 14.3% compared to the same month last year, Autodata reports. Sales of the all-electric Nissan Leaf rose 31.7%, but sales of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in were down 25.1%."

    I'd buy a Volt if my building had charging available in my garage.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous6:52 AM

    I live in Bethesda and drive one. Want to know why? It saves gas. What??? you say, yes, I drive carpool with 6 kids, for school soccer, swimming, scouts, etc etc

    So would you rather have one of these or six of something else on the road creating more smog and more traffic? I am willing to bet I spend much less in gas than most of you.

    Oh you never thought of it that way. flame on.

    Oh and about the R next to someone's name on the ballot, i think the dems are much more likely to not vote for anyone who doesn't have a D next to there.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous12:09 PM

      Saves gas sure. But add in the price hike and you're probably going to wash

      Delete
  9. Anonymous7:25 AM

    No Democrat on the ballot in the Council at-large race is close to as big a troll as Robert Dyer. So congrats, keep fighting against the MoCO Machine man, the one made up of the people are are about a billion times more intelligent and informed than you.

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    1. 7:25 - "We are the Borg. Resistance is futile." Quite an appealing membership drive you're running there. So, what numbers would "more intelligent and informed" beings refer to besides auto sales statistics to determine auto sales?

      Delete
  10. Anonymous7:34 AM

    If these damn SUVs were made of Styrofoam we could ban them.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous8:07 AM

    Anonymous/6:52 a.m.* -

    Or you could drive a minivan, carry the same number of people, get twice the mileage. But you'd lose the victim complex.

    *Why are the timestamps for this blog in Pacific Time? Seriously?

    ReplyDelete
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    1. 8:07 I actually like minivans, especially the ones that look like vans. But you can't really compare the safety features and amenities of an Escalade to a minivan. How is choosing the vehicle size that's right for you, your daily needs, and wanting the best in crash protection a "victim complex"?

      Delete
  12. Anonymous11:34 AM

    Go, Robert, go! You keep doing your thing, Dyer. I love it when you stir up the castrated tree-huggers; their lib-shit tears taste so good.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous1:33 PM

    So bigger cars are the answer?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "So bigger cars are the answer?" Yes, if you conclude a bigger car is the right one for you.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous2:03 PM

    There were real statistics saying the Prius was selling the best in our area when it first came out. Too lazy to look for an actual attributed quote.

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    1. 2:03 That could well have been true, but my post is about the sales situation now in 2014.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous6:27 PM

    Wow. A Robert Dyer first. He actually acknowledged he has not looked at all the facts....(of course he quickly backd it up by saying he was looking at the sales situation "now" based on an article he read in USA Today....about summer sales....national summer sales)

    clown.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous6:49 PM

    9/11 9:24pm
    Democrat here and I'd like to apologize for some of my peer's comments first.

    I read this as a factual post on auto sales that sadly is true. There's a large percentage of large SUV's in Montgomery Cty and I rarely see more than one or two people in the vehicle. With mileage of 14/20 mpg gas or 20/23 mpg Hybrid I find it disturbing.

    There are many vehicles that will accommodate 5 teenagers and gear that would double the gas mileage. One commenter even said "So would you rather have one of these or six of something else on the road creating more smog and more traffic? I am willing to bet I spend much less in gas than most of you".

    They made a choice, big SUV truck, maybe it's a status symbol, who knows? I just wish that if they choose to drive a truck they know how to drive a truck.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous7:19 PM

    It's not about Robert Dyer being a Republican, it's about him being a clown. I truly wish we had serious Republican candidates for office in MoCo. We need them.

    You try to engage him on his very ill-thought out stances, and he'll distract by relating it something else, or throw out his same old "the current guys haven't attracted any fortune 500 corporations." He is complete non sequitur clown trash.

    ReplyDelete
  18. 6:27 You sound out of touch with reality, and anyone reading this can easily recognize you are just making up fictional statements at this point.

    Prius sales in 2001 have NOTHING to do with my post about auto sales in 2014.

    My article is not just about "national" sales. I have comments from a Bethesda dealership in the article. And the Escalade is selling well in Bethesda.

    Read my article, and stop making things up when you realize you can't argue on the facts.

    ReplyDelete
  19. 7:19 If I wasn't a "serious candidate," you wouldn't be here posting these negative comments. A serious candidate requires a response from the political machine, and here you are. Bravo.

    "You try to engage him on his very ill-thought out stances, and he'll distract by relating it something else, or throw out his same old 'the current guys haven't attracted any fortune 500 corporations.'"

    You're describing what you do. When you lose the argument on the facts, you then talk about irrelevant topics and post insults. So much for "serious" candidates.

    The auto sales data is what it is. Your arguments have been proven wrong.

    Now, can you do us all a favor and tell us if you actually believe the Council's failure to attract a major corporation in over a decade is A) a good thing, and B) a record they should be rewarded for?

    You actually are in favor of not having Fortune 500 corporations with high-wage jobs move to Montgomery County? Can I quote you on that?

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous8:55 PM

    We need serious men to handle the serious issues of out time. Like styrofoam cups.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I liked the article. I found it to be concise & factual. Good luck on your political campaign.

    ReplyDelete
  22. 8:55 Yes, and plastic bags and backyard chickens. "These are the times that try men's souls."

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous3:01 AM

    I'm rooting for you Dyer because I'd like to see how awful you'd be at the job.

    Could you imagine Dyer assembling a staff? Or dissecting a report compiled by staffers who actually are trained to research statistics, policy and law? Or maybe Dyer could make a whole new bunch of YouTube food reviews using the stuff in the Council's cafeteria.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. 3:01 AM - Can you do worse than failing to attract even one major corporation to the County in over 10 years?

      I've hired and fired people in the private sector. How many current councilmembers have business experience? I know plenty of extremely qualified people who would do very well as staff members.

      I dissect their reports right here on this blog all the time, and would have no trouble doing that whatsoever.

      Delete
  24. An avid reader9:37 AM

    If someone doesn't enjoy reading a particular blog, why keep sticking around to make negative comments? That makes no sense.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous9:58 AM

    If someone makes stupid arguments and assertions, should we just let them keep making those stupid arguments and assertions with no criticism?

    First Amendment, check it out.

    Robert should know. He's apparently always being harrassed by the MOCO MACHINE!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 9:58 Your comments are rarely on-topic, and as with this one, filled with childish insults and name calling. That's why you are anonymous, because you wouldn't want to be associated with these comments publicly.

      Delete
  26. An avid reader10:36 AM

    Dear 9:58,
    Get a life. Seriously. Like now. Thanks!
    Love,
    the world

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous4:18 AM

    I'm voting for Dyer (assuming I can -- are you in a certain district or at large?) because of his stance on transportation issues. I think that's the #1 issue in the county, and the current council seems to forget about it while just pandering to developers.

    ReplyDelete
  28. 4:18 I'm running at-large, which means you can vote for me no matter where you live within Montgomery County.

    ReplyDelete