7.2.2008 9:04 AM
The Year Americans Fell Out of Love with Cars
Car Sales Hit 10-Year Low, as Agency Warns Oil Will Only Get More Expensive
Automobile sales hit a 10-year low in June, as Americans increasingly looked at the sticker price but had visions of the pump price.
Keeping a car running has always been a hidden expense for most new car buyers. Even an efficient car would cost $10,000 in fuel over its lifetime just a couple years ago, when gas prices were closer to $3 a gallon. With prices above $4 a gallon, that's closer to $13,000. And that's for a fuel-efficient car, like those that are still selling (Toyota is struggling to meet demand for its fuel-efficient cars, like the Prius). Gas-guzzling SUVs and trucks already bottomed out.
The price of gas is showing no signs of reversing its trajectory, despite the notion that speculation is artificially inflating the price. The Energy Information Administration, the main U.S. fuel analyst, has said that world demand for oil will continue to climb, despite a slackening of demand in the U.S. That means gas prices are likely to remain high.
That should inspire increased efficiency in vehicles, a push to invest in alternative fuels, and other long-term strategies to reduce our demand for oil. There's no cheaper barrel of oil than the one we don't have to buy.
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