Half of all new cars are now SUVs, making them a major cause of the intensifying climate crisis, say experts
Sales of SUVs hit a new record in 2023, making up half of all new cars sold globally, data has revealed. Experts warned that the rising sales of the large, heavy vehicles is pushing up the carbon emissions that drive global heating.
The analysis, by the International Energy Agency, found that the rising emissions from SUVs in 2023 made up 20% of the global increase in CO2, making the vehicles a major cause of the intensifying climate crisis. If SUVs were a country, the IEA said, they would be the world’s fifth-largest emitter of CO2, ahead of the national emissions of both Japan and Germany.
Climate-fuelled extreme weather is increasing, with urgent cuts in emissions needed. But emissions from the global transport sector have risen fast in recent years, outside of the Covid pandemic. SUV sales rose 15% in 2023, compared with a 3% rise for conventional cars.
GM doesn’t even sell regular cars any more do they? All hatchbacks SUVs and trucks.
I was going to say something similar. Nobody sells small cars anymore. And if they do, they try as hard as they can to get you to buy something else. I’m currently trying to buy a Prius and I have one on hold, but it won’t be available for months and when we went to various dealers, they just didn’t have any to test drive and instead wanted us to test drive their SUVs. I’ve never wanted a large car. In fact, I would prefer if my next car was a small electric hatchback, but they just don’t sell that here in the US.
GM tried killing the Bolt, a small and, cheap hatchback, and replacing it with the Equinox EV, a much more expensive SUV. They did not make any for 2024 because they were planning on ending production but we’re met with tons of backlash for killing one of their most popular vehicles so they will be moving it to the Optium platform. I doubt they will lower the price of it despite them moving to Optium because it will allow cheaper production.
I get that larger vehicles offer higher margins but smaller commuter vehicles are still very necessary and wanted. The Bolt’s sales figures show that pretty clearly.
I don’t think that lack of availability means that the dealer doesn’t want you to buy a Prius. I suspect that it’s more that they want you to buy from them rather than someone else, and if they don’t have Priuses available, they’ll try and sell you what they do have…shrugs
For the Prius, my understanding is that during the COVID-19 pandemic, a large backlog built up at automakers due to the disruption to production. Manufacturers don’t want to hugely-overbuild production capacity just to throw it away when the backlog is resolved, so the backlog persisted through 2023 and is still apparently present for some cars. According to this, this apparently includes the Prius:
https://caredge.com/guides/factory-order-wait-times-2024#Toyota_Factory_Order_Wait_Times
In 2024, most Toyota models no longer have long waitlists for an available allocation, with the exceptions being the Prius, GR86, GR Corolla, Grand Highlander Hybrid, Land Cruiser, Sienna, Supra M/T and Spec Edition TRD Pros. For these models, you can expect to wait 3-4 months for an allocation that’s not already spoken for.
The thing that @JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works mentioned was something that surprised me when I discovered it too – consumer preference has shifted from sedans to hatchbacks. But you can still get sedans…just that not all companies are making them.
Automakers aren’t encouraged to create more efficient small vehicles. The US emissions system is based on the vehicle’s footprint rather than its total output. Therefore, it’s more “climate friendly” in marketing to make an underpowered larger vehicle.
The US also imposes a tariff on import of light trucks – which I understand large vehicles like crossovers are also classified as – due to a 1960s dispute over US chicken exports to Europe that was never resolved, making those more-profitable for domestic manufacture, since the market is less-competitive.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax
The Chicken Tax is a 25 percent tariff on light trucks (and originally on potato starch, dextrin, and brandy) imposed in 1964 by the United States under President Lyndon B. Johnson in response to tariffs placed by France and West Germany on importation of U.S. chicken. The period from 1961 to 1964 of tensions and negotiations surrounding the issue was known as the “Chicken War”, taking place at the height of Cold War politics.
Eventually, the tariffs on potato starch, dextrin, and brandy were lifted, but since 1964 this form of protectionism has remained in place to give US domestic automakers an advantage over imported competitors. Though concern remains about its repeal, a 2003 Cato Institute study called the tariff “a policy in search of a rationale.”
I suppose that if European chicken protectionism ended, American auto protectionism also might, and so would the misincentive to sell as many light trucks as possible.
Another fun quirk that I expect – though haven’t looked into – derives from this: American towing requirements have long been much higher than those in Europe. One needs a considerably larger vehicle to tow a given trailer legally. That effectively means that if one wants to tow things in the US, one effectively needs to pay the “chicken tax” to domestic automakers.
Malibu die off too? Cadillac still has sedans.
They are indeed killing the Malibu.
Guess I’ll be riding out my impala fleet (2 currently) til it dies, don’t exactly have cadillac money.
The IEA said the main reasons behind the surge in SUVs were the “the appeal of SUVs as a status symbol”
SUVs now account for half of all new car sales
I mean, if half of what people are buying are SUVs, they can’t be that much of a status symbol.
That’s new car sales. Compare it to used car sales and people who can’t afford to buy a car at all, and it makes more sense.
I suspect the definitions here are being very liberally used to make the issue look worse than it is. I’d almost guarantee a majority of these vehicles are actually CUVs, essentially tall sedans with 4 or 6 cylinder engines and decent fuel efficiency, and not SUVs like the Tahoe, Suburban, Expedition, etc that are sitting on full frames with V8 engines getting 12MPG.
I also agree the whole ‘status symbol’ angle is bunk too as nobody is looking at your Nissan Rogue or Jeep Compass as a status symbol.
Well, if you don’t have one then you’re in the bottom half obviously. That can’t be good to be rolling around on 49th percentile wheels.
My impression is that every generation that has kids wants to drive something other what their parents drove, because doing so would make them stodgy and boring.
Go back to the 1960s, and the “family vehicle” was the station wagon.
Then it became the minivan for the next generation.
Then the SUV for the next.
I’m not sure I’d call what I usually see driving around now an SUV…rather, crossovers.
I think that there might be a certain size that is just comfortable for a car. Elderly people really can’t get into small micro-cars, like a Honda Fit, it’s hard to maneuver into them if an older person has joint pain. I think that’s why crossovers are popular, they’re just regulars cars that have been given a 6inch lift and a hatchback to make storage easier.
For sure, most of them are crossovers. And get decent gas mileage compared to real SUVs. When I was a kid, an SUV was like, an Explorer. Or a Tahoe. My unibody Equinox is basically just a tall station wagon. I’d say my Traverse might border on SUV with its AWD and towing package, but it is still a unibody and has a limited towing capacity. And it gets at least as good of mileage as my old Pontiac G6 that it replaced.
Station wagons remain extremely popular in Europe (even though SUVs have eaten a good bit of their share). It’s the most sensible if you need more space than a hatchback without all the stupid compromises from SUVs (also smaller SUVs provide much less space than a good wagon). I’d only prefer a small van like a recent Citroen Berlingo, but they are expensive, older ones are not that economical and also not comfortable/“sexy”.
Crossovers are just taller station wagons.
We need to drive electric cars says man who flys everywhere on a private jet.
I don’t think Damian Carrington flies* much of anywhere in a private jet.
Tap for spoiler
He’s the author of this article
I’m pretty sure he was referring to Musk.
…why? Did a Ctrl+F for “Musk” on the article and found nothing.
I agree with the “fuck, Elon” sentiment especially considering he will use his plane to fly 15 miles, but private air travel makes up a negligible amount of CO2 emissions.
This is 100% a China and US problem - nowhere else in the world would these Wankpanzers be a status symbol. What’s required is a re-education of the Nouveau Riche to make a better choice.
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