Best Gas Mileage for a Car, Truck or SUV can mean several things. First it could mean what a recent TV commercial was saying about an SUV. The slogan said that this particular vehicle had Best In Class mileage - but the commercial never did say what the mileage was. So I was left with the idea that that this particular SUV did not have the best gas mileage for a car, just the best mileage for the class of car that it is.
The second meaning that I can think of is which car, truck, or automobile has the best gas mileage. It makes sense that this second question applies to many more Americans about the car they drive with gas prices in the U.S. now over $4.00/gallon and rising. In the past year, Americans have seen gas prices increase a whole $1 per gallon of gas. It appears that the increase in gas prices is finally taking its toll on U.S. drivers.
American Drivers Are Driving Less With Rising Gasoline Prices
According to a recent news press release from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Americans drove 1.4 billion fewer highway miles in April 2008 when compared to April 2007. And American drivers drove 400 million miles less in April than they did just one month ago in March of 2008. This translates into U.S. drivers have traveled 1.8 percent less on U.S. public roads than the same period in 2007. This marks a drop of nearly 20 billion miles traveled this year, and nearly 30 billion miles traveled since November. This drop marks a historic 6 months in a row where road miles travelled by U.S. drivers has gone down.
American Drivers Are Buying Cars Again With Higher Gas Mileage
The same press release indicated that SUV sales are down 38% this May 2008 as compared to May 2007 while car sales have increased. Prior to 2008, car sales have made up less than 50% of vehicle sales, but with the higher gas prices, automobile sales now make up 57% of all vehicle sales. So what about this SUV commericial that I saw that I opened this article with?
Car Manufacturers: Wake Up!
The Ad for best in class gas mileage isn't going to work. This message doesn't reach past what we have been trained to know about SUV's over the past 8 years or so since SUV's have taken hold. We have been trained that SUV's stink at gas mileage even though they are incredibly convenient to a family of 4. Today, gas prices have risen so quick, that there is no time to transition to Best in Class mileage advertising. It is time to advertise Best Gas Mileage period.
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