So why are Americans still leaping for the most oversized vehicles on the market, knowing they’ll be forking over even more money weekly for their gas budgets?
For one, they offer luxurious interiors and higher safety standards. The earliest SUVs were quite literally fully enclosed bodies attached to pickup truck chassis reimagined with extended cabs and seating space. Today they boast some of the roomiest and plushest interiors on the market, next to the often overlooked minivan.
And today’s pickup trucks have been updated, too. A modern Ford F-150, for example, now requires many computer chips to power its climate control, touchscreen entertainment console, automatic start and stop, and other high-tech features. The slowdown in new vehicle production coinciding with the pandemic hit truck sales as much as sedans, emphasizing today’s trucks are not the simple, gas-guzzling workhorses of the 1990s when bench seats were still standard.
The geographic differences between states where people buy the most trucks and SUVs is another factor to consider for their staying power. Along the Gulf Coast, including the states of Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, gasoline is relatively cheap compared with states along the West Coast and Northeastern Seaboard, where it is more expensive.
An analysis from iSeeCars, a data-driven car search and research company, looked at data from April 2022 through March 2023 and found the states with above-average truck sales also have lower-than-average gasoline prices.
It costs money to transport gas through pipelines from oil-producing regions like Texas and Pennsylvania, and consumers in more distant states pick up the tab in increased costs at the pump. In recent weeks, Southern states have enjoyed roughly 25% lower costs per gallon of gas compared with West Coast states like California, according to AAA data.
California and Washington are examples of states where new laws meant to curb emissions may put economic pressure on owners of vehicles with lower fuel efficiency, like trucks and SUVs.
And even considering variable gas costs, it’s worth considering how overall commuting behaviors have shifted in recent years as workers and employers nationwide embrace remote and hybrid work schedules, allowing some people to drive less on a daily basis.
Story editing by Jeff Inglis. Copy editing by Kristen Wegrzyn.
This story originally appeared on Insurify and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
Credit: Source link
