## 45 Who's stupid ? The customers or the manufacturers of SUV

On this subject, I'm going to talk about what I know best, the car industry. But I think the subject could be adapted to many other issues where industry and customers go against the interests of the planet and therefore their own interests in the long run. This question is a bit like the chicken or the egg, who's the first? 

But to understand the situation we must look at technical questions. SUV/Crossovers didn't wait for EV (Electric Vehicle) to become best sellers. In Europe, the first Nissan Qashqai was the first great success for SUV in 2007 (and not trucks or real 4x4 cars). But before, the Toyota RAV4/Fun cruiser was also a success in 1994 with a look of 4x4 off-road vehicle in a compact size with a simpler transmission. The Qashqai was closer to a compact sedan and that's what made its success in Europe. But everywhere in the world, there were bigger crossovers with also Station Wagons with big wheels and a off-road look. It's difficult to define a SUV but the result is always the same : A bigger car with bigger tires, more weight and less aerodynamic....and so the fuel consumption goes up ! For car manufacturers, it's a big deal because it's not more expensive to produce but you can sell it to a bigger price. And with EVs, they have found an easy way to put batteries under the floor of the car. It's not really the truth
 because you can also make a sedan with batteries under the floor...Look at the first Prius, the Tesla model S and 3 and now all the big Chinese EV sedan. 

What I don't understand is why customers made this a success. OK, the marketing has always been good to sell even a fridge to an Inuit. So why not to sell an «off-road» feel, a bit of adventure to the customer who sees always city streets every day ? They also said that if you're higher than the others, you can see better for your safety. Do you really believe that ? Are you looking at what's in front of the car before yours ? And for safety, the only truth is that a more heavy vehicle, there are more energy in accidents, crashes and smaller cars are destroyed by heavier cars. I have written several articles on all the facts and data that made the buy of an SUV completely mad nowadays. More cost in consumption, tires, no more habitability or safety, more floor space, etc...But now you can add environmental reasons and the road wear because of the weight. 

Many people are saying that it's because of the manufacturers. If they don't make SUV, customers will not buy it. True...but that's not that simple. Now I see that Sport cars manufacturers are building SUVs : Lotus, Alpine, Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini....And even Rolls Royce and Bentley have those horrible cars. You have to look at who's buying that and who are now the market specifiers. As the Smartphone which are getting bigger because of Asian users, the specifiers of cars are not Europe anymore and even not the USA. For sport cars and luxury cars, you have to look at Asia and Middle East. If there are big motorways, there are also dirt tracks or sand, or ...there were. And the use of offload cars and trucks was more common. It's a kind of «Just in case» buy. In Europe, roads are more and more in poor condition. My street is made for an off-road car with holes everywhere for 4 to 6 months a year. And with that, you have to consider the hype about SUV, despite all that we can say about climate warming.
 The SUV is a social marker, something to show that you are wealth. That's completely stupid but that's what marketing could go against. 

Of course, nobody will do that because, as I said before, it's a way to sell something more expensive or at least more profitable for the same price. But I'm not pessimistic. For example, when I see that the first cars of Xiaomi and Huawei are sedan with an excellent aerodynamic (Cx and SCx), it's a new marker. But they are also planning to do SUVs of course, as Tesla did with model S and then X, model  3 and then Y. I think the problem is about marketing...A luxury Sedan is good to install a new brand, to make an image, a symbol. But after that, you have to make money, more money. And for the customer, if you could think about something different than your own personal marketing. If a car si for you only a tool to move from A to B, why not think about cost and real space (do your own measures) ? If a car is for you something for the pleasure, why not think about weight, low centre of gravity, grip...? Yes, I know, why not begin to simply think before buying…

I say that but my quite 20 yo hybrid car is closer to the end...And I don't really know what to buy because I want something smaller but able to do 400 km 5 or 6 times a year and where I go, there are only few EV chargers, and no rental possibilities near me...But I'm sure not to buy a SUV and maybe a real autonomy of 300 km will be OK. I have also to think about it.

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