Market share for large pickups started at 12.3 percent at the start of 2008, fell to 9.3 percent in May as gasoline became expensive, and rose to 13.8 percent in November, as fuel slipped back to 2001 prices. In January, large pickup trucks led all other categories in consumer consideration, as gauged by searches on Edmunds.com.
"The pickup truck is a uniquely American invention, so for those with an impulse toward nationalism it's kind of a natural way ... to endorse American consumerism in a tough environment," says Allen Jones, a Bozeman, Mont., novelist (csmonitor.com)
U.S. sales of gasoline-electric hybrids fell 9.9 percent in 2008, after rising with gasoline prices early in the year and falling along with fuel costs and a collapsing auto market at the end. (autonews.com)
It a marriage of heavy incentives, the love for pickups and cheap gas that consumers find irresistible.
It's a strange short-term memory, consumer condition.
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