Earlier this year the auto industry witnessed an unprecedented shift in consumer demand from large trucks and SUVs to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles as gas prices topped the $4 mark. Although gas prices have retreated from their record highs, most buyers are still giving trucks and SUVs a wide berth. However, Toyota feels the full-size truck and SUV segments are primed for recovery.
According to Ford CEO Alan Mulally, the breaking point for truck and SUV sales was when gas prices topped $3.50. Although seeing $3.50 at the pump seems like a distant memory for most Americans, Toyota division general manager for Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Bob Carter, revealed that the Japanese automaker expects U.S. gas prices to bottom out at $3.50. If Toyota’s prediction comes true, it would give some support to the ailing truck and SUV markets.
“We are absolutely confident that the recovery will take place, it’s just arguable when,” Carter told Automotive News.
However, Carter is unsure of whether “recreational user” of pickup trucks will ever return to the segment. Even if gas prices to come back down to $3.50, it’s likely pickup sales would be dominated by professionals, rather than the average person who only uses a truck’s capacities every once in a while.
But even if gas prices retreat in the interim, they won’t stay there forever. Toyota expecting gas prices to top $5 by the middle of next decade.
08/14, 4:31 PM
posted by:
ktulu
smart
08/14, 4:38 PM
posted by:
123sub
I would pop a champagne if i could buy gas as cheap as US$4.50 a gallon. It is very low compared to euro prices. Close to US$3 pr.liter(!!) in some countryes.
08/14, 4:52 PM
posted by:
ausrutherford
Here in SC it is already below $3.50.
08/14, 4:57 PM
posted by:
mazdaman
Even if gas prices were to continue to drop below $3.50 a gallon, I don’t think a lot of people will ever embrace the truck/SUV market ever again. I think this entire scenario has been a wake-up call to many Americans to buy a vehicle that is sized to fit their actual lifestyle and needs, not something based on image alone or that happens to be the hottest trend at the moment.
08/14, 5:17 PM
posted by:
frost
I agree with your comments Mazdaman, but really I think that it was more then a wake-up call, more a swift kick in the butt. If you look at the current ongoings in the US economy with the recent housing / credit crisis factoring in the price of energy and food costs going thru the roof, many Americans are realizing it’s not really worth having a huge SUV, and living in an over valued home near no-where near when they live, shop or work. And If gas ever got to below lets say $3 a gallon, I think that many Americans will think twice about if they can really afford the total costs of having the “suberbian lifestyle”.
08/14, 5:21 PM
posted by:
SigmaHyperion
They said that same thing in 1980, mazdaman. Yet, lo and behold, a bit over a decade later everyone wanted bigger cars with bigger motors again.
The change won’t happen overnight, but if gas prices managed to stay “low” for a long period of time, it can happen. People that buy on “image alone” or the “hottest trends” aren’t the type to look back a few years and worry about ‘what if’ that happens again.
Honestly it probably won’t happen because gasoline prices are highly unlikely to remain stable for a long enough period of time anymore.
08/14, 5:51 PM
posted by:
DeansterTJ
Trucks are out of style. Doesn’t matter how cheap or pricey gas is, it’s just no longer cool to go out and buy an Escalade. Those days are done. If you have $100k lying around, a Benz is the way to go.
08/14, 11:30 PM
posted by:
sharpie
Half-ton truck may recover. Large SUV? Probably not.
08/15, 12:14 AM
posted by:
A4
oh look toyota in denial again, just like when they said the sedan-based coupe market was “dead”, when in actuality, the solara just sucked balls
08/15, 12:48 AM
posted by:
bigp
i it will nevr be what it was but it will improve
08/15, 5:52 AM
posted by:
Buhbye
More Asian company ‘doing America’ mistakes. Watch for the free-fall.
08/15, 8:49 AM
posted by:
zoomnbyu
Assuming that the days of the dinosaurs are done is a grand presumption at best. These beasts have been around for a long time and they keep having a way of coming back. This is not the 1st gas price crisis in history. As long as Americans have a penchant for size, utility and comfort they will buy large vehicles. It’s like everything else that we do. We’re willing to go on diet for awhile but we always fall off the wagon and go back to what we want.
That being said, my Armada will continue to sit in the garage except for weekend trips. All while I enjoy riding my motorcycle to work and getting 50MPG!
08/15, 3:36 PM
posted by:
hbcbob3
The motorcycle’s nice at 45 mpg, but my Duramax does not sit long at my house. Got to get out there and smoke out some Furds and foreign turds.