So is the SUV craze largely an American way of waste?

[Wendyimhome]

I'm not a well-traveled man, internationally speaking.   Actually, I've never left the country.  Being the accomplished frugalist that I am (or, as the wife would say, a cheap, unadventurous, lazy, old cuss), I always figure if it ain't broke don't fix it, and nothing beats home cooking.  I sense, however, that there is an international flavor to the MMM boards, so I thought it would be a good place to pose the question:

Is the ongoing U.S. trend of people spending big dollars on huge SUVs that get crappy mileage, even though the majority of the use is simply to drive a single person to work each day, a largely American phenom, or is it just as bad elsewhere?

[bigchrisb]

I'm Australian, and have done a fair bit of international travel.

SUV use (mis-use?) is also wide-spread here in Australia, with a large number of people using SUVs to move one person around urban areas.  Usually accompanied with the excuse that "Australia is a large country, with lots of dirt roads), despite the fact that most of the trucks never see them.  For the record I'm yet to encounter many that I haven't been able to get my front wheel drive, 50mpg diesel station wagon down either - nothing like the look on a monster truck owners eyes when you meet them 40km from the nearest sealed road sans monster truck :)

But, despite Australia's addiction to SUV's, I was blown away by just how big many of the trucks on the road in the US are.  To me, the quantity and size of very large passenger vehicles on the roads there - for comparison, my (subjective estimate) experience is that you might see a FXXX / Suburban / Hummer type vehicle once or twice a day here, 5-10% of vehicles on the road being land cruiser type size, and 30% or so  vehicles being smaller SUVs / Utilities.  Where as my experience in the US was probably a similar percentage of total SUVs, but a much higher proportion being in the very large category. 

My travels elsewhere (rest of pacific, Asia, Europe, middle east) had a vastly lower percentage of SUVs in the passenger vehicle mix, with car stocks being more biased towards smaller cars in general. 

Personally, I don't understand the obsession of driving a colossus for a commuter vehicle in either country!

[AdrianM]

I live in Australia and I laugh at people driving SUV (Silly Usless Vehicel) anywhere I see them.

My wife (Cat) and I recently replaced our 15yr old Camry. Intially Cat wanted a SUV but as a MMM reader I wanted a good value car.

• In my research of the SUV I found that they are an overpriced station wagon with big tyres.
• Cannot fit as many people as a normal station wagon. SUV fits only 2.3 people on the back seats.
• Are not as safe as a normal sedan. Mums take note, bigger does not mean safer.
• If you wanted high driving postion to see over everybody, you will fail as everyone else has the same idea.

I stopped right there and hell no to a SUV

In the end I went with the Holden Epica
4yr old
4 cyl Deisel
25K on the clock
Bought at acution for less than dealers would take for trade in.
Massive deprictaion already taken by preivous owner.

Paid Cash and continue to laugh everytime I see an SUV with just 1 person in it.

[Jamesqf]

When I lived in Switzerland (around 2005), it wasn't uncommon to see things like Hummers and Land Rovers on the roads.  And in Britain, mid-90s, the Jeep Cherokee seemed to be the vehicle of choice among upwardly-mobile women.

[Nudelkopf]

I grew up in rural Australia - nothing but 4WDs :(

[AdrianM]

I grew up in rural Australia - nothing but 4WDs :(

and ute's.

[Nudelkopf]

I grew up in rural Australia - nothing but 4WDs :(

and ute's.

And 4WD utes :P

[gooki]

Europe (Holland, Germany) is mostly free from SUVs.

NZ has plenty of mid sized, and compact SUVs (imported from Japan) very few large ones.

I'm so glad we got a station wagon. Small engine, light weight, lots of boot space, easy to reach roof racks.

[Melissa]

We rented a car when we were in Provence and we both noted that SUVs were largely missing from the region.  The only place we saw any was large urban areas like Avignon.

The other thing I loved about driving there was the lack of stop signs.  When two roads come together there was always a roundabout instead of your traditional 4 way stop.  That helped improve our fuel efficiency since we didn't have to stop and start all the time.  Also, when we entered larger towns, they always had parking lots on the outskirts.  People seemed to have less aversion to walking through town to go shopping/eating.

[Adventine]

In America-loving Philippines, driving an SUV is a major indicator that you've "made it" (graduated to the American way of life).

As our economy's been improving over the past couple of years, I've been seeing more oversized cars and fancy sports cars on the road. They look really stupid stuck in Manila traffic. Although they probably are more comfortable.

[DocCyane]

Observing my region, Los Angeles has a ridiculous number of SUVs. At least in other parts of the country there is snow or inclement weather of some sort. With our eternal sunshine, there is no reason for an SUV other than as a status symbol.

Of course, we also have the third highest foreclosure rate in the country. Clearly we don't know how to manage money.

[igthebold]

It's remarkable how similar Australia and the USA are, culturally. We both have a relatively short history characterized by pioneer periods, leading to a culturally pioneer mindset. Implications would be some anti-intellectualism, distrust of centralized authority, perhaps a less-than-global mindset.

America and Australia are the two most overweight countries in the world, or were last time I checked. They both like their SUVs.

This sounds negative, but I don't really have anything against a pioneer mindset. Just the stupid parts. It's easy to cargo-cult a distrust of authority while at the same time doing whatever the corporations advertising to you tell you to do. Similarly, I don't whole-heartedly embrace a worldly, global mindset. Just the good parts. :)

[Kriegsspiel]

When I lived in Germany, there were a smattering of SUVs (they were almost exclusively the BMW SUV).  Everything else was a small car or station wagon.  It was about the same for the rest of Europe when I visited.

Afghanistan is devoid of SUVs.  I don't think I saw any.

[atelierk]

Here in central New York state, I notice a lot of small/medium SUV's but relatively few of the really monster ones like Yukons, Tahoes and Expeditions. On the other hand, it seems like every third vehicle is a huge pickup truck, the kind with a back-seat and less cargo room in the bed than my old minivan had. They all say "4x4" on them (which I finally found out simply means they're all-wheel drive) and a lot of them have a "hemi" engine. I think it's sort of a Tim "the Toolman" Taylor macho "more power" obsession. Not only do those things gulp gas, but the people who drive them never seem to have any understanding of hypermiling techniques. Just the opposite: I swear to these guys it's a contest to see how crappy they can make their fuel efficiency.

[Wendyimhome]

Here in central New York state, I notice a lot of small/medium SUV's but relatively few of the really monster ones like Yukons, Tahoes and Expeditions. On the other hand, it seems like every third vehicle is a huge pickup truck, the kind with a back-seat and less cargo room in the bed than my old minivan had. They all say "4x4" on them (which I finally found out simply means they're all-wheel drive) and a lot of them have a "hemi" engine. I think it's sort of a Tim "the Toolman" Taylor macho "more power" obsession. Not only do those things gulp gas, but the people who drive them never seem to have any understanding of hypermiling techniques. Just the opposite: I swear to these guys it's a contest to see how crappy they can make their fuel efficiency.

Completely agree.  It's also amazing how many of those pickup trucks have empty beds.  It's not like they are being used for practical truck purposes. 

Not only are those crew cab trucks terrible on gas, they are extremely expensive too.  It's not hard to get one of those up close to $50K on a new sale price.

Really interesting input from the European and Australian posts.  It's really cool having such iinternational perspective on this board.

[C40]

Definitely not only an American type of waste. Though it is generally not so in Europe..

One other example that might not be mentioned is Mexico / Mexicans....  I remember my friend pointing at a HUGE truck we saw one day (with a number of mexican color highlights and flags) and said jokingly "The Mexican dream!".. While it was a joke, there is an element of truth to the joke.

 

[$_gone_amok]

Paris, France. I think I saw less than 5 SUVs in 2 days. Most of the cars are small hatch back or sedans with small engines.

Tokyo, Japan. Almost like Paris, did not see a SUV. Lot of people on bikes and using the subway. Lots of small cars and small but space-efficient mini-vans (I'd love to have one of those Japanese mini-vans)

Toronto, Canada. A variety of cars and some SUVs but still less than California.  More cars with V6 and V8 engines comparing to France and Japan.

Lima, Peru. Saw a handful of Japanese made 4x4 SUV that looks was actually used to go off road as opposite to Starbucks run.  Howver, a vast majority of the cars are sedans with 4 cylinder engines.

Shanghai and Beijing, China.  Lots of sedans. A variety of 4 cylinder and V6 engines. V8 engines are very rare compared to the US. More SUVs than Japan and France. The SUVs tend to be real SUVs accessorized to go off-roading as opposite to SUVs with 22 inch rims in California that can't drive through gravel road.

[reverend]

Keep in mind that the US is a very young country, whereas many roads in Europe were freakin trails so there is not the car culture and the countries weren't built around cars as we were here in the US. Cars came early in our development. Also, gas is cheap and we travel long distances.

In many European cities you can walk, take the bus/train/subway to where you need to go and parking is tight because housing and sidewalks use up most of the space. You really can't practically drive a large vehicle there.
Also, with fuel prices being what they are, you need the smaller cars with 60-70mpg capability or you go broke.

The Smart ForFour got 73mpg after having been flogged for a day in the mountains, followed by 90 minutes of literally pedal to the floor speed on the AutoBahn. That's regular everyday tech that we don't seem to get for lame "emissions" rules here.

I thnk a car like that here would make people desire it more. The Peugeot 407 HDi got about 80mpg - if we had that, SUV sales would drop... no hybrid bullshit, just proper diesel engines in small but fun cars.

[fnord]

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/10/how-cafe-killed-compact-trucks-and-station-wagons/

One of CAFEs biggest impacts in recent times has manifested itself in how auto makers classify products. Under CAFE, vehicles can be labeled “passenger cars” or “light trucks”, with the latter category required to meet less stringent standards for fuel economy and CO2 emissions. A decade ago, the Chrysler PT Cruiser was the most egregious example of this.

etc. etc. Kind of ironic how that's turned out.

[woodpecker]

A am from Munich, Germany.

For Germany as a whole I can say, SUV rate is low. In big and rich cities (like Munich), there are quite a few, mostly status cars from BMW or so, but of course no one would really need one.
I once rode with someone I knew to the mountains for a ski tour, and when I askes him why he did not turn on the 4 wheel drive he said he doesn't know how to do it...

However, Germans like big normal cars, station waggons are very common.

In Italy where I travelled extensely for the last weeks, there are almost only small cars, like FIAT and Asian cars.
Same holds for France and most other countries I know around.

Reasons for less SUVs in Europe are in my opinion:

- Very high fuel prices (gasoline 1,60 EUR per liter, is around 4,50 USD per gallon). This is due to taxation.
- Shorter distances, especially commuting distances are shorter.
- Very extensive public transport and train networks of good quality and reasonably priced. Public transport is often subsidized and it is more efficient as European cities tend to be less wide spread than many US ones I have seen.
- Crowded streets, often public transport or train is faster short- and sometimes also long-range.
- Much smaller streets in the cities, making big cars difficult to handle. That's just because many city centers are very old and obviously not designed car-friendly. In Italy, this is extreme, our station waggon was already much too big for many city centers (see pics on my blog...)

But then, an SUV is still a status symbol in Germany and (too) many people are willing to spend a lot to join this stupid club. Many Germans love their cars more than anything else for some strange reason.
In Italy and other southern European countries this is different, they care much less about cars in general (most of them have scratches, are unwashed etc.). They spend their money on expensive clothes and stylish sunglases (stupid as well) and on food (well, this one is still better than cars).

Cheers,
Woodpecker

[NotAnExpert]

My first post here, but as a frequent traveler and employed in the automotive industry I wanted to chime in on this topic.
Just to correct 'woodpecker', 1.60 euro per liter is closer to $8 per US gallon than $4.50.

SUV craze is pretty bad in the US, especially when you consider how the SUVs are used.  I have seen more SUVs on the road (as a percentage of total car population) in a very few select places, like for example Namibia, but in most cases they were used daily on trails where a regular car could not be used.  Basically, I suspect that in the US and some more affluent regions of Canada there are more SUV's that have never seen unpaved roads than anywhere else in the world.