Reply #66: For me, the Suburban marks a special trajectory in American history...

[scentopine]

the quest for big "patriotic", macho vehicles, a metaphor for a special kind of American arrogance. America made a choice - we chose big, inefficient SUV's and trucks for daily commute to work and grocery chopping at the local strip mall. We chose this path with a huge amount of help from Madison Ave and 911.

After 911 it was like people thought buying a Humvee with leather seats was somehow showing support for troops who were getting slaughtered and dismembered in Iraq driving theirs. As Bill Maher once said - "just because you drive a ford expedition, it doesn't mean you are daniel fucking boone." I would have said something like "just because you drive a Humvee, it doesn't mean you are Sergeant Rock, in Iraq, protecting the homeland."

So, considering the massive US auto bailouts, what is GM pumping all their marketing dollars into? You guessed it - big fucking trucks. Non-stop commercials showing macho guys hauling big spools of wire and breaking horses with their trucks. Cracks me up that American men fall for that shit.

Both Honda and Toyota (not withstanding Toyota's current problems) pumped massive investment in fuel efficiency for vehicles here and in Europe. To compete with Japan and Korea, Detroit profits would have to be reinvested, new engineers hired and new jobs created, This would have resulted in less cash for executive pockets. In a brilliant move, Detroit marketed trucks as patriotic - therefore shunting any criticism of their products to ground. It was simply cheaper to sell an image than develop better vehicles.

I once had someone tell me "Of course we bought a Suburban ($30k, 18 MPG, urban driving), we have two kids"! While some may actually need a Suburban to haul giant spools of wire or oil drilling equipment, the Suburban will forever hold a unique place in American history as an icon for American foolishness.