SUVs not so endangered after all?

[Starglider]

Two years ago we had this thread; SUVs plunge toward 'endangered' list.

I thought this story was an interesting update (from The Truth About Cars).

SUVs Boom In China
By Bertel Schmitt on May 20, 2010

Worried about SUVs becoming an endangered species? Don’t dare to drive your Expedition or Escalade out of fear of being stigmatized by the neighbors? Come to China! China’s auto boom is overshadowed by a much bigger boom: The explosion of the SUV market.

In the first four months of the year, Chinese new car sales grew 60.51 percent. That’s nothing compared to SUV sales. Their growth in the first four months escalated 118 percent, nearly double the rate of the general market, reports Gasgoo, based on data released by China’s National Passenger Vehicle Market Information Joint Committee (NPVC). Sadly, American brands profit very little from the boom of the behemoths. The spoils go to Chinese, Japanese, German, and South Korean producers.

The tempo of the SUV sales is increasing. In April alone, Chinese SUV sales jumped 113 percent to 105,585 units. Here are April’s big boy big sellers in China:

Great Wall Hover (13,000)
Honda CR-V (12,000)
Toyota RAV4 (8,059)
Zotye (7,513)
Toyota Highlander（6,524)
Hyundai ix35 (4,399)
Volkswagen Tiguan (3,500)
Audi Q5 (2,176)

As you can see, the big movers are the compact models. But nobody will bat an eye at a full size SUV, or leave a note under the wiper at the Wal-Mart parking lot. Yes, they have Wal-Marts. They are considered upscale, no social stigma either.

[mr friendly guy]

SUVs are what we Australians call 4WD's right? How many Chinese actually need one as opposed to want one? Over here they maybe useful for rural travel, however in metropolitan areas they are just fucking gas guzzlers and they irritate me because if you park next to them you can't see much when you reverse. The only plus thing is an alleged safety factor, although I have my doubts about that given their higher centre of gravity and those pesky things like physics.

I am going to hazard a guess that most travel by private vehicles in China is within cities rather than to rural areas simply because a lot of their rural areas are still poor, relative to the wealthy coastal cities. In which case a non SUV would do the job just as well, should be cheaper and doesn't consume as much petrol.

It would be better for the world with the resource strain and all that apocalyptic doom and gloomtm that we hear around here if people only bought SUVs if they needed that kind of power.

[Lusankya]

People who buy cars in China usually don't care about economy, because for the most part the people who buy cars are rich, and are buying the car as a status symbol. 4WDs, of course, make a very nice status symbol, because they have expensive upkeep.

What I find more interesting is the fact that Chinese carmakers are beginning to top the lists. Previously, Chinese-made cars were considered to be an inferior product to foreign cars, so most Chinese people preferred to buy foreign brands, but now much of the stigma has disappeared, so even rich people are willing to buy them.

[Temujin]

That's the problem, everyone in those developing countries wants to emulate the Western lifestyle (can't blame them), but the environmental cost will be too much for us to bear. Hell it already has been.

I just wish we could help them leapfrog to more advanced and environmentally friendly technologies. But Western firms don't want to give up their tech for cheap, if at all, and developing countries can't afford to pay the costs.

[Lonestar]

The Honda CR-V is a SUV in the sense that it is box shaped and (CAN)have AWD. I wouldn't put it in the same class as Expeditions or Jeeps.

[Iosef Cross]

That's the problem, everyone in those developing countries wants to emulate the Western lifestyle (can't blame them), but the environmental cost will be too much for us to bear. Hell it already has been.

I just wish we could help them leapfrog to more advanced and environmentally friendly technologies. But Western firms don't want to give up their tech for cheap, if at all, and developing countries can't afford to pay the costs.

Those greedy corporations... It's all their fault!

[Temujin]

That's the problem, everyone in those developing countries wants to emulate the Western lifestyle (can't blame them), but the environmental cost will be too much for us to bear. Hell it already has been.

I just wish we could help them leapfrog to more advanced and environmentally friendly technologies. But Western firms don't want to give up their tech for cheap, if at all, and developing countries can't afford to pay the costs.

Those greedy corporations... It's all their fault!

I don't have a readily available source link, but this problem has been identified as a major obstacle for getting appropriate measures to counter climate change passed.

So yes, it is their fault; the bastards!

[Kanastrous]

I realize that there is a global dimension to the problems created by SUVs, but my gut reaction was fine, so long as the fucking things aren't on the roads *I* have to use...

Yeah, selfish, I know.

[Terralthra]

The Honda CR-V is a SUV in the sense that it is box shaped and (CAN)have AWD. I wouldn't put it in the same class as Expeditions or Jeeps.

I have a CR-V. It is significantly smaller than 4Runners and Yukons, and gets comparable, if slightly worse, gas mileage than a sedan.

[Lonestar]

So do I. Mine's a 2000 model and routinely gets 30MPG.

[Temujin]

There's nothing wrong with the smaller models. They're quite sensible and get as good as gas mileage as a small truck. And once they start creating more hybrid versions, they'll be even more fuel efficient. I could see a potential problem if you haul a lot of heavy shit, but like with my Tacoma, I rarely haul anything significantly heavy and would thus welcome a hybrid model.

As for the large bastards, they're not just fuel inefficient, they can be fucking dangerous to be around. Too many people drive those things like they're sports coupes, which can often be dangerous in any kind of car. You get a monstrosity that is more vehicle than you can handle and drive like that and your just asking for an accident. The problem is the fuckers usually kill someone else while walking away relatively unharmed, especially if the other person is driving an ecobox.

[Aaron]

I have a CR-V. It is significantly smaller than 4Runners and Yukons, and gets comparable, if slightly worse, gas mileage than a sedan.

Aye. We have a 2007 (FWD) and we get around 27-30 on the highway.