Forget about the credit crunch or recession, sales of SUV's and pick-up trucks have risen in September. Pickup and SUV sales plummeted when petrol prices hovered around $4 per gallon, and many thought these gas-guzzling segments would never fully recover.
Truck sales fell below 10% of overall vehicle sales back in May and June, but the price of petrol falling from an average of $4.11 per gallon to $2.78 has helped the share of trucks rise to 14.1% of the overall market for September. Depending on how buyers react to the financial crisis, October could be even better as petrol prices have continued to go down. SUVs have seen a smaller but still significant jump in overall share, going from 1.9% in May to 2.5% in September – a big improvement for a shrinking segment.
As one of our readers said, some Americans have ditched their fuel efficient cars in favour for a V6 or V8 vehicle.
