Ford S.U.V.'s Use More Gas Than Before - NYT

[goforit]

Ford S.U.V.'s Use More Gas Than Before
By DANNY HAKIM

<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/19/automobiles/19FORD.html>


DEARBORN, Mich., July 18 — The average fuel economy of the Ford Motor Company's sport utility vehicles will be worse for the 2003 model year than the previous year, the company said in a report issued on Thursday.

Earlier this year, the company said it could not meet a pledge to raise the fuel economy of its sport utility vehicles by 25 percent from 2000 to 2005. But the report indicates that Ford is actually moving backward on fuel economy in its sport utility vehicles.

In the 2002 model year, the company's sport utility vehicles were 8.4 percent more efficient than the ones the company made in the 2000 model year. But those produced this year are only 5.2 percent more efficient than those made in the 2000 model year, according to the company's corporate citizenship report.

The report pointed to declining fuel economy in the company's Land Rover division and declining sales of its small S.U.V., the Escape. It also said fuel economy had been worsened by the introduction of the Lincoln Aviator, a luxury S.U.V. only slightly smaller than the burly Navigator.

(con't)............

[curse10]

1. Why am I not surprised?

When is this SUV craze going to end?????

[laconicsax]

4. it's leaving slowly

with the rise of 'crossover' vehicles.

[Nambe]

2. We have to create a market for all that Iraqi oil.

There are new statistics out for accident fatalities in '02. SUV roll-over deaths were up 14%, the biggest rise in all catigories. There was also a rise in deaths of occupants in cars hit by SUV's.

My pet peeve is being behind one in freeway traffic. I can't see the traffic ahead at all. That has to contribute to a lot of blood as well.

[goforit]

3. Let us not forget the hey day for all those HUMMERS!!!

They are all having a blast guzzling that black gold!!!

Sick!!!

:puke:

[Sirius_on]

6. Heys its there wallets, not yours.

My 2001 Explorer doesnt get any worse gas milage then a Cadilac or a Lincoln would get.

[DUreader]

16. No, gas prices are subsidized with tax dollars, our wallets

[Gingersnap]

5. when the fad dies, what will happen to all those used SUVs?

Will they end up being sold as used cars to the poor? Will they find their way to third world countries and Mexico? I don't know how many million of them there are, but whenever the US SUV fad dies, there will still be many of the vehicles out there, with the same fuel efficiency and safety problems....

[bunnyhop]

7. SUVs are the same as guns

Just a way for life's losers to feel big and powerful. Some schmuck gets stepped on by everybody but then he gets in his 3 ton highway tank and can make believe he's doing the pushing now. Same as the nuts that take assault rifles into churches and start blasting away.

[aquaman]

8. Did you see 60 minutes last week?

They had a repeat story on WHY people drive SUV's, in other words the psychology involved. To summarize, power, control, and deep insecurity, and oh yeah if its a guy driver, a very small penis. Thats what the Doc said about SUV drivers.

[goforit]

9. ROFLMAO!!!!..............Too funny!!!

Now you got me thinking and I'll think of all
those sexually frustrated individuals!!
LOL!!!

[Bamboo]

10. Porsche,Lexus,Jaguar,oh my!

The SUV doctor on 60 Minutes is Gilbert C. Rapaille he is a consultant http://www.archetypediscoveriesworldwide.com and an anthropologist.He has written several books one I recommend http://www.netlibrary.com/ebook_info.asp?product_id=56740 was like that segment only book length.I drive a Prius and have noticed that SUV drivers are more polite than when I drive a different car.In my life the least polite are Camry drivers.I think people dislike SUVs because they pose an immediate threat with their size but the threat of a moron is more abstract and does not cause the animal brain to flair up at every intersection.The guy that drove through the farmers market was driving a car and in Tampa a car just ran over a group of bicyclists.My experience in the Prius has given me some sympathy for SUV drivers,they may collapse easily under peer pressure and buy depreciating assets like stocks and flashy vehicles,open virus attachments and vote republician.

[bunnyhop]

18. No question that male SUV lovers have small weenies

Every time their girl friend laughs at their equipment they hop in their Navigator and "get even" with the world.

[fshrink]

14. Yes. On the surface, there's a need for "safety"

and below a world of uncertainty about one's power. In fact, even the need for safety is meaningful: the eye was in the tumb and was watching Cain...

[shanti]

21. exactly!

hummers = penis extensions

[SideshowScott]

11. So basicly im paying $1.60 per gallon so somebody can drive an S.U.V.??

Really! I cant understand why they make those gass guzzleing hogs when the price of gas is going up..Qhwnever i see a big honking SUV next time ill think THATS costing me as extra 20 bucks a week at the pumps!

[geomon]

12. My car gets 50 + mpg

Every couple of weeks when I fill my tank at the station, I try to park next to an SUV (non-comercial) and ask the driver what their SUV gets in gas mileage.

[tsipple]

13. Excellent Idea!

I'm going to try that! (And also throw in a side comment or two about Middle Eastern oil. :-))

[geomon]

15. I drive a civic hybrid

.

[goforit]

22. I do too!!!.........They're awesome!!!!

I recommend them to all.

I do believe that Toyota's "alexus" is coming out with a SUV hybrid
this fall ,so keep your eyes open.(if ya got the $$$)

[htuttle]

20. I've been doing something similar lately

Since I got a Chetak (a nifty 145cc scooter from India), I like to park my scooter at the pumps of the convenience store down the street, check the oil, and then note as I examine the gas gauge:

"Hmm...only half a gallon left. I'll have to remember to get gas next week," then pick up some groceries and speed off at 108 miles per gallon.

:evilgrin:

[Karenina]

19. Here comes reality

Americans don't really "pay" for gasoline. Rough estimate here; we drove to the North Sea yesterday... 200 miles/U$D35 in a BMW 318.

[indepat]

17. Fear not, we have troops stationed near Iraqi oil fields and their proven

reserves are quite adequate for our forseeable needs, thank you.

[SOS]

23. If the Carter

fuel standards had been kept in place, the US would not be importing ONE DROP of oil. We would have been free of oil imports by 1991.
But, in 1985, Reagan was under immense pressure from the Texas oil guys to get rid of Carters standards. He, of course, obliged his true employers and the standards were gutted in 1985. They haven't been touched since and mileage is now at a 20-year low.
Our endless involvement in the Middle East is a direct result of Reagans pathetic decision.