JoeSpareBedroom wrote:


OK. Now we're getting somewhere. What if a family of four can get a
35% improvement in gas mileage by owning a certain vehicle, without
losing any of the REAL (as opposed to imaginary) advantages of an
SUV? Is a 35% improvement not worth thinking about, especially if
multiplied by the number of SUVs in this country?

Of course not. Your "imaginary" advantages may be very "real" to the family.
Status in the community or with peers is important, even crucial, to some.
Maybe they can't get the 35% improved vehicle in their alma mater's colors,
or the "better" vehicle doesn't have a cup holder. Whatever.

But it works both ways.

Somebody pointed out that there are two hybrids (Civic and Prius). One LOOKS
like a hybrid, the other doesn't. Aside from looks, the two are equivalent
in gas milage, price, and virtually all other characteristics. The one that
LOOKS like a hybrid (Prius?) outsells the conventional-looking car by
three-to-one! Why? Because the environmental types want others to know they
are environmentalists! That they care, that they are doing something
wonderful. Peer pressure. [Confession: I may have Civic confused with Prius
or vice-versa - I don't know and I don't care.]

It's their money. If a family is willing to put their earnings into a gas
guzzler or a non-disguised hybrid, who has the gall to tell them otherwise?