Some interesting animation in this Bloomberg site.
http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-auto-sales/
I didn't see anything about sports cars in there, but I'm sure the 2015 version will include a spike due to the popularity of the new Mustang and the C7 Vette.
Most Americans are addicted to bigger and more. Not just in vehicles but everything. Bigger is better. It's our culture. When I go to the gym I can barely find my Miata when I come out with all the rows of giant pick ups and SUVs everywhere. I swear my car can fit in the beds of some of those trucks. It used to be who had the fastest car, now it's who has the biggest truck.
There are two types of people in the world.
1) Those that own trucks;
2) Those that borrow trucks.
I am a trucke-borrow.
Don't own one, but have friends with trucks. Pick-up trucks, box trucks, and a dump truck.
I have one out of necessity. Pulling a very heavy trailer full of race car, tools and so on or hauling the quad, coolers, generator and so on up to a cabin in the woods... with 6 people. Plowing the driveway. Fetching engines, a season's worth of tires... or just taking the lawn mower for repair. I even have an occasional side business where payload matters. So, yeah, I need a truck. I love that my truck can do all that without breaking a sweat.
But I do hate that I have to have it at all. I cannot imagine why anyone would buy such a thing without similar justification much less love it as a car.
Does not compute.
Right now the station wagon checks most of the 'truck' boxes for me, but it is very tempting to eventually pick up something with a bed and 4wd. That said, all the $60k luxo-trucks are crazy to me. they're too nice to actually use as a truck, any more.
Feedyurhed wrote: Bigger is better. It's our culture. When I go to the gym I can barely find my Miata when I come out with all the rows of giant pick ups and SUVs everywhere.
It's getting difficult to drive a regular size car these days - trying to pull out in traffic, or even backing out of a parking spot is tough when you can't see past the fenders of the giant pickup/SUV next to you.
I have a '66 Ford half ton, and even that thing feels tiny compared to late model pickups.
It's also American to justify the neccesity of a truck.
"But I go to the mountains!"
"But I haul a trailer once a year!"
"I've got a dirt bike!"
"I need safety!"
I'd have a wagon but I can't haul round bales in a station wagon.
In reply to PHeller:
Any single one of those is justification not to look at something other than a truck except "safety". Click two of them and it's a lock. If you pull a significant sized camping or car trailer at all, or need to carry large cargo often it's a perfectly sensible choice. That is what they are for.
I just don't understand the choice to drive a 7k lb truck with an unscratched bedliner and clean hitch receiver. They are not pleasurable to drive and they are a berkeleyload of money to buy, keep and license.
To each his own I guess.
I guess people can't just like something and that's the end of it.
I've decided I can't get rid of my truck despite poor milage and other perceived drawbacks.
I don't tow but I did pull my boss to work up a long, winding driveway covered with 16" of snow and yanked our (work) E350 handicapped van out of a snow bank.
And we do home improvement projects that periodically need a pick-up bed.
That all said, I still use it as a daily driver 95% of the time. So what, I like it. What's the big deal?
And why on earth do we Americans get bashed (here, the UK and elsewhere) for preferring big things? Big trucks, big steaks etc.
I personally have no psychological issues with inferiority. Most trucks are bigger and more expensive than mine. But I don't automatically see the guy with a new 3/4 ton truck as "compensating". We like what we like. It would appear others need to get a life and be more concerned with thier own lives and less with the preferences of thier neighbors.
Part of the disdain for large trucks may stem from the arms race of safety=mass on modern highways in America. People feel like they HAVE to drive something big just to not get squashed flat by all the big vehicles out there. It's a repetitive cycle.
Feedyurhed wrote: It used to be who had the fastest car, now it's who has the biggest truck.
I make up for my small car in other areas.
unevolved wrote: Part of the disdain for large guns may stem from the arms race of safety=mass in modern America. People feel like they HAVE to shoot something big just to not get killed by all the big guns out there. It's a repetitive cycle.
If it's an American thing then what's aussie's excuse?
I noticed that when I sorted by manufacturer most of the cars I like fell into the 'other' category. I also noticed that the BRZ sold about twice as much as the Miata.
Nick_Comstock wrote: If it's an American thing then what's aussie's excuse?
Ever see a road train?
When I had a fullsize truck, it was used as a truck nearly every time I drove it. It wasn't my DD. When I went nearly a year without "needing" it, it was time to sell it. I miss truly small trucks of the 70's and 80's that were handy as tools and could be DD'd without breaking the bank.
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I have one out of necessity. Pulling a very heavy trailer full of race car, tools and so on or hauling the quad, coolers, generator and so on up to a cabin in the woods... with 6 people. Plowing the driveway. Fetching engines, a season's worth of tires... or just taking the lawn mower for repair. I even have an occasional side business where payload matters. So, yeah, I need a truck. I love that my truck can do all that without breaking a sweat. But I do hate that I have to have it at all. I cannot imagine why anyone would buy such a thing without similar justification much less love it as a car. Does not compute.
^Just saved me some typing.
I love seeing women drive suburbans who cant see over the steering wheel and at most have one child lost somewhere in the back. I hate big trucks and the idiotic fad of having hids in reflective housings. I wish execution on the spot was legal
I put roughly 8k miles a year on my truck. AT LEAST half of that is with a car trailer in tow. Probably closer to 75%.
stuart in mn wrote:Feedyurhed wrote: Bigger is better. It's our culture. When I go to the gym I can barely find my Miata when I come out with all the rows of giant pick ups and SUVs everywhere.It's getting difficult to drive a regular size car these days - trying to pull out in traffic, or even backing out of a parking spot is tough when you can't see past the fenders of the giant pickup/SUV next to you. I have a '66 Ford half ton, and even that thing feels tiny compared to late model pickups.
Makes me thankful I always keep a cushion of space between me and the vehicle ahead of me. Last week coming home from work, the pickup in front of me just changed lanes without any warning.. leaving me to stop quickly before a line of cars waiting to go for the green.. If I had been riding the truck's bumper like so many people do around here.. I would have caused quite an accident
I don't think I need to justify a truck any more than any other car I own.
SkinnyG wrote:Feedyurhed wrote: It used to be who had the fastest car, now it's who has the biggest truck.I make up for my small car in other areas.
Giant liver?
SUV....... what a berkeleying joke... most should be called LUV (Lumbering Utility Vehicle)
With there leather seats, carpeted interiors and entertainment systems there is very little "utility" left in todays SUV.
One word-smithed word: brodozer.
I'm glad I'm not alone in this thought. I hate all big trucks. If I were king, trucks would be sold only if you had a license for a job requiring them. Like a carpenter, or repair guy. And SUV's and not-so-minivans would require a certificate that shows just how many kids you have and what cumulate you live in. Seven kids and a house in Montana? Tahoe for you. Two kids and live in the city of portland? Kei car for you.
Also- no studded snow tires unless there is solid ice on the ground. That make all those wimps that can't swing a tire iron learn how to. (Yes, my vision of automotive paradise is more like automotive soviet Russia)
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