Gas guzzler? No problem amid low prices at pump

Array
Array

Cheap gasoline prices and increased consumer confidence are driving new interest toward buying bigger, less-fuel-efficient cars. Corey Robertson, sales manager of Metro Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram, at 1667 Hartford Ave., Johnston, entered the car-sales business a year before the 2008 economic crisis when gas prices hovered at about $4 per gallon and sales of large trucks and SUVs plummeted. For the eight years he’s been selling cars, consumers have increasingly been conscious about trying to get smaller, more-fuel-efficient cars. Recently, however, there’s been unmatched interest in larger models, he says. “Once Santa Claus was out of the way, we saw a big flow of people expressing interest,” Robertson said. “People who want or need a bigger SUV are not backing down. … This is my first time seeing people expressing this type of interest.” Specifically, Robertson has seen an increased interest in his Jeep models, including the Cherokee and Wrangler, the latter is reported as getting an average of 16.2 miles per gallon for the 2015 model, according to the website Fuelly, which tracks vehicle fuel economy. “People say they’ve always really wanted one for years, and now they’re coming in for them,” Robertson said. The interest in bigger vehicles at Robertson’s dealership is reflective of a nationwide trend. On Feb. 9, Rhode Island self-serve, regular unleaded gas prices averaged $2.20 per gallon. In some parts of the country it has decreased to less than $2 per gallon. The plunge is driving people to buy bigger vehicles. In fact, pickup trucks and SUVs made up 51.7 percent of all U.S. light vehicle sales – weight totaling less than 8,500 pounds – in December, representing a 12.4 percent year-over-year increase, according to Autodata Corp. Car sales, meanwhile, increased 5.4 percent over the same time. Chrysler LLC in a year-over-year comparison sold 9.5 percent less cars in 2014, but saw an increase of 27.4 percent in light truck sales, according to Autodata. Precise Rhode Island numbers are a little more difficult to quantify, says Chris Hurd, CEO of Hurd Chevrolet Buick GMC Truck in Johnston, but his family dealership company, in its third generation, brought in record sales last year. Hurd says all his midsized Chevrolet Colorado pickup trucks sold before ever reaching the lot. The 2015 Colorado gets 19.2 average miles per gallon, according to Fuelly. Hurd says the money people are saving at gas stations is trickling out into the local economy. “A large gas tank that cost $60 to $70 to fill is now $30 and that’s cash you’ve got available to spend on more things,” Hurd said. Hurd thinks previous buying momentum from people looking for electric cars could have temporarily “slammed into a road block,” but he remains optimistic about the GM plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt, which he also sells. “There are some car buyers who want to use as little gasoline as possible and the economic side isn’t the biggest factor,” Hurd said. But car manufacturers are likely to push production wherever the consumer is spending money and recently the U.S. consumer has been buying less-fuel-efficient cars. The average fuel economy of cars, light trucks, vans and SUVs purchased last December was 25.1 miles per gallon, a decrease from 25.3 miles per gallon in each of the previous three months, according to the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. The institute reported an all-time high of 25.8 miles per gallon last August. The study began in 2007. The Rhode Island Conservation Law Foundation has also taken note of the uptick of interest in less-fuel-efficient cars, which senior attorney Jerry Elmer says is particularly concerning for the Ocean State and its contribution to the atmosphere’s level of greenhouse gasses. Elmer says there’s been progress in securing public funding to bolster public transportation, which in theory will get more people out of their private cars and reduce total miles traveled. But Rhode Island car sales have steadily increased year over year for the last five years, according to Jack Perkins, executive vice president of the Rhode Island Automobile Dealers Association. And Perkins, Hurd and Robertson expect the trend to continue. “Consumers will delay less and act sooner,” Perkins said. n

No posts to display