Back in February, I interviewed Edmunds.com Senior Editor and Green Car Advisor John O’Dell for a story on Honda’s “sustainable mobility” initiatives. The article, entitled “Wheels of Destiny,” published in the spring issue of AIADA’s Auto Dealer magazine. O’Dell said that the reason so many American car buyers do not purchase for best fuel efficiency is because they instead purchase based on a “worst case scenario.”
Now in May, we are seeing more SUV drivers start to ditch their guzzlers for more economical models. But it took gasoline to top $4 a gallon in some places to put high gas prices in the “worst case scenario” category for such buyers. When I spoke with O’Dell, he explained that by “worst case scenario,” he meant that many SUV and pickup truck imagine the most challenging usage they might ever (potentially) encounter with their vehicles and buy for that purpose … “just in case.” As in, “just in case I need to drive through a five-foot snowdrift or climb a mountain trail or haul three tons of pavers for a patio I will likely never build myself.”
That’s the hot button a lot of marketers have been hitting for about 20 years, which explains why many advertise SUVs by showing them plowing through five-foot snowdrifts or climbing mountain trails in an SUV, or hauling patio pavers in a heavy-duty pickup truck.
With oil passing $122 a barrel and the national average for regular gas at $3.60 and climbing, I think it’s safe to say we have a new “worst case scenario.” And at least for the near term, it’s going to get even worse. If enough people accept that and buy accordingly, lessening demand could result in lower prices. But would that “best case scenario” send SUV veterans back to their old “worst case scenarios?”
CNN weighs in:
Americans see $5 gas on the horizon – May. 5, 2008:
Download my story on Honda: Auto_Dealer_Honda-Story.pdf
