Accelerate Mpls

Recently, I had a conversation with a baby boomer about her vehicle.  She drives a Honda CR-V and tells me she likes it.  It came up during the conversation that she thought her CR-V was a truck.  I started asking questions and digging into why she might think this.  Apparently, it has to do with the raised ride height, all-wheel drive, and overall vehicle appearance.  I then, as gently as I could, informed her that her “truck” was not really a truck, rather it was what many refer to as a CUV.  CUV stands for crossover utility vehicle and these are not “trucks” in the traditional sense.

When SUV’s first came onto the market, they were little more then short trucks with four doors.  They have since evolved, but many people in the general public see current CUV’S and traditional SUV’s as the same.  A CUV isn’t like a normal SUV in many ways – starting with the fact that they aren’t body on frame vehicles.  They are unibody and essentially based off car platforms.  They aren’t designed for the same capabilities as a traditional SUV.  The aforementioned baby boomer from earlier was shocked to learn that her CR-V is based off a car.

CUV’s still have all-wheel drive, but most do not have off-road capabilities or even a low range like a traditional four-wheel drive. However, there are some that have locking differentials for deeper snow and sticky situations.  Interestingly enough, many CUV’s are more capable then most consumers will ever need.  With all that said, towing capacities are much lower then that of a typical SUV.  The current Ford Explorer is a typical SUV, being body on frame.  That will all be changing though with the new version that is set to go on sale at the end of this year/beginning of next year.  The next generation Explorer went more mainstream, being unibody.  This trend is continuing to expand among other SUV’s, including the next-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee (though the Grand Cherokee has always been unibody).  The 2011 Grand Cherokee will also be unibody, though it will still retain hard core off -road capabilities in certain trim levels.

What this all boils down to is perception.  People seem to want an “SUV”, but they do not want the many things associated with them.  That list includes, but isn’t limited to, poor gas mileage, rough ride, sloppy handling and many other things.  There are things people still want though – like increased ride height and the idea of off road capabilities.  So what does this mean?  It means that people want some characteristics of the SUV and not others – and that poses a challenge to marketers.

Some of this was known (ok most of this we knew), but here it is in a nice handy little table.  You are looking at Ford’s plans through 2013.  As you can see pretty much almost everything will be refreshed or new.

Source- Twitter

Source- AutoBlog

Episode 13 starts by discussing the past week on both of our respective blogs, AutoBird Blog and AccelerateMpls. The week in review included Dodge’s three new Charger ads and GM to manufacture it’s own electric motors.  We move along to the major news of the week segment.  This week included-

• Toyota recalls an additional 1.1 million vehicles
• GM has appointed Ed Whitacre as permanent CEO (for now)
• Opel confirms another 8,300 jobs to be cut
• The upcoming new Ford Explorer
• Ford earned $2.7 billion in 2009

We then proceed to the clip of the week segment.  This week we featured the later then it should have been Chrysler holiday ad.

Last but certaintly not least, we discuss our three main topics.  This week those included Chrysler’s future, the sale of Saab to Spyker and Toyota’s latest recall woes.

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“Go big or go home.”  This saying was something I learned at a early age as ‘the American way.’ The American way has had many trends, and many of these trends move over to the auto industry.  The winds are changing at our doors again.

1984 Dodge Caravan

In 1984 Dodge introduced the world to the Dodge Caravan.  These were an instant success as they were a better option than driving around in a station wagon.  The concept of a minivan appealed to families hauling the kids with lots of gear.  With decent fuel economy and the ability to haul lots of people and luggage, it is no wonder why the minivan was a hit.  Once the initial fad wore off, the minivan started getting the soccer mom name plate.

1991 Ford Explorer

Once the minivan was no longer the ‘cool’ vehicle to be pulling up to soccer practice in, something had to took its place.  This was the birth of the SUV fad.  Having a vehicle that sat up higher made people feel like they were the king of the road.  The higher seating position and the four wheel drive capability gave people the sense of safety and security.  With poor fuel economy and un-necessary running costs for most people, the SUV was truly a symbol of what Americans thought they needed.

1999 Cadillac Escalade

In 1999, Ford’s premium brand, Lincoln, introduced the Navigator. The Navigator was essentially a rebadged Ford Expedition.  Sales were successful enough that General Motors felt it was necessary to rush something into production that would compete with the Cadillac badge.  General Motors immediately rebadged the GMC Yukon Denali to become what was known as the first generation Escalade.  This is when SUV’s became the status symbol in America.  It was no longer cool to just have a SUV. You needed a large, premium badged SUV.

Now we skip forward to last summer.  Gas prices hit an all time high in the U.S. and people stopped their love affair with SUV’s as quickly as it started.  People started switching the SUV status symbol to hybrids.  It is always amazing to see how short term American’s memories are.  Now that gas prices have gone down significantly from last summers, we are getting back into buying SUV’s.  That said, something else has happened since last year and it is larger then just the auto industry.  The economy has been hit hard and so have people’s pocket books.  This has hurt auto sales across the board. Everything from the Toyota Prius to the Chevrolet Suburban, no one was immune to the down turn.  Sales are starting to pick up again, and people are going back slowly.  The main factor seems to be that people still like SUV’s but they want them more fuel efficient.  The new 2010 Chevrolet Equinox is rated at 32mpg on the highway.  This is very good milage for a crossover SUV since the first SUV’s were averaging 17mpg on the highway.

It seems the tides have turned once again, and people are now in love with SUV’s and good fuel mileage.  The old adage “go big or go home” seems to have turned “go green or go home”.