The point is that it ISN'T free enterprise -- it's a result of a distorted
regulatory environment creating an uneven playing field.
SUVs by passing as "light trucks" are exploiting a regulatory loophole -- by
being exempt from the safety and fuel mileage requirements of passenger
cars, they are cheaper to manufacture. This encouraged the manufacturers to
promote them heavily, creating demand, and enabling them to sell them for a
higher profit margin. Also, as high "content" vehicles that do not affect
their total corporate fuel economy average, there is even more of an
incentive for manufacturers to promote them. Once the SUV became established
as a "trend", then the momentum became self-sustaining.
Essentially, the whole SUV phenomenon is an aberration, created not by
customer choice but by the inevitable workings of an ill-conceived, lopsided
regulatory structure. The failure of the government to correct this obvious
loophole, which defies both reason and the public interest, in the face of
(understandable, if self-interested) industry resistance is a sad commentary
on the current state of our political system.
<end of rant>
on 12/6/02 9:51 AM, Howard gentry at zymmer4@yahoo.com wrote:
>Welcome to Private Business..Free enterprise sure
> beats the alternative.
> Howard
> 1976 MG-B
> 1974 MGBgt
>
--
Max Heim
'66 MGB GHN3L76149
If you're near Mountain View, CA,
it's the primer red one with chrome wires
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