Quote:
Originally Posted by blankall
You don't think that consumers wanted increased fuel efficiency? That was literally the first thing I asked the dealer about when I purchased my first car. Not just for environmental reasons, but because I was broke and wanted cheaper driving. There's always been more fuel efficient vehicles available. People didn't drive them because they didn't think it was cool.
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No, I don't think fuel efficiency is a huge driver of consumer behavior in the aggregate, particularly in periods of low fuel prices. 5 of the top 10 selling vehicles in the US are trucks and 3 of the other 5 are SUVs. Much like safety improvements (which often make vehicles uglier and less cool looking), it's something that needs to be legislated, which is what every other peer jurisdiction did through the '80s, '90s, and '00s while North America didn't.