Comments on: Toyota using $3.50 as floor for U.S. gas prices

By: hbcbob3

hbcbob3 — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 19:36:26 +0000

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.

By: zoomnbyu

zoomnbyu — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:49:43 +0000

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!

By: Buhbye

Buhbye — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:52:08 +0000

More Asian company ‘doing America’ mistakes. Watch for the free-fall.

By: bigp

bigp — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 04:48:34 +0000

i it will nevr be what it was but it will improve

By: A4

A4 — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 04:14:19 +0000

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

By: sharpie

sharpie — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 03:30:03 +0000

Half-ton truck may recover. Large SUV? Probably not.

By: DeansterTJ

DeansterTJ — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 21:51:17 +0000

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.

By: SigmaHyperion

SigmaHyperion — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 21:21:34 +0000

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.

By: frost

frost — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 21:17:00 +0000

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”.

By: mazdaman

mazdaman — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:57:40 +0000

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.

By: ausrutherford

ausrutherford — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:52:21 +0000

Here in SC it is already below $3.50.

By: 123sub

123sub — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:38:03 +0000

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.

By: ktulu

ktulu — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:31:47 +0000

smart