Sunday 8 June 2008

Recession Claims Another Victim

I am not one who feels glee in other peoples misery. Actually, that's not quite true because if that other person is an Estate Agent or a Banker i am only too happy to dance about cackling manically about cosmic karma.
With the worlds fiances going down the gurgler, the list of deserving victims is growing so let us add another one to the list, SUV's.
According to legend, it was Arnold Schwarzenegger in the early 90s who hassled car manufacturer AM General into creating the first civilian version of the petrol swallowing Humvee. Shift the clock on a decade or so and taste the irony as Arnie is now the Governor of California and a leading light in America as it fights global warming.
The woman bothering Austrian did much to create the massive behemoth that have plagued our streets ever since but it seems that the end is nigh for the mega-car as worldwide sales have dropped through the floor and GM have announced it is closing its manufacturing plants.
Of course it is the rising cost of petrol that has put paid to running a ridiculously large car rather than say developing an environmental conscience or not wanting to appear a self-absorbed plank. Heaven only knows how these people are going to get there kids to school or pick up their shopping in a car that hasn't got 4x4 drive and isn't seven foot wide but times are hard and we are all suffering.
The recession may be hurting but little things like this give it a very nice silver lining and everyone else will now be able to relax and stop picking paint off the end of their keys.*

*Keying SUV's is not condoned and should never be performed when there are CCTV cameras in the vicinity.

4 comments:

Representative Kimble said...

My Jeep Cherokee gets about 9 miles to the gallon now that I'm running the air conditioner and doing summer driving. I suppose if these prices keep up I'm going to have to start driving with the windows open, but I hate how that messes my hair.

Anonymous said...

Lucy,

Are you kidding me. Hummers aren't even big compared to the other stuff on the road here.

King Cab Duellys abound - they have four doors, sit so high you need a ladder to get in, and have four rear wheels. They look down on Hummers.

Then there are the people that drive the 30 foot long RV's and pull their Hummer (for convenient local driving) behind them.

Hummers just scratch the surface...

Q

Anne said...

every time i see any sort of giant (personal use)vehicle now, i laugh snidely. aren't you glad you bought into the s.u.v. hype, fools?!! when will they learn?

Stephen K said...

Yes, but there are so many more SUVs out there than RVs, and they are basically status symbols that are not used for offroading or to haul things around.