riddle me this
July 7th, 2007Carmakers like SUVs for the same reason they like coupes, and more so – convertibles: they can charge a lot more for ‘em. Same goes for all wheel drive (cost: a few hundred tops, retail cost: thousands) or larger displacement engine in the same family (Someone explain why a 3.0L 6 cylinder costs more than a 2.5L 6 cylinder when they have the same number of parts? Some companies command $5K+ for the privilege).
The latest moneymaker: third row seating, in many cases right where the crumple zone was meant to be and no airbags either.
When cars get bigger, marketers cite growing waistlines. But as award winning L.A. TImes writer Dan Neil cites:
If the average family size in the United States is 3.84—so sayeth the U.S. Census Bureau—and the average number of children younger than 18 in those families is holding steady at 1.86, well, why the sudden pressing need for more seats? ...The rise of third-row seating, it seems to me, is a classic case of a manufactured need. Most people who spend the extra money don’t actually need a sixth and seventh seat; it’s merely that they have been possessed with the anxiety of not having them. My God, one day we might have friends, and then what will we do?