SUVs: Good or bad?
Why Tatas, Mahindras, Hyundai/Kia are in the seventh heaven?
Reason: the phenomenally rising graph of SUV sales. Tata tops the table with a 22% market share as of November 2022, Mahindra 20%, Hyundai 18% & Kia 12% (put together 30%), and Maruti Suzuki brings up the rear with 9%. Oh, la la!
By the time we roll into the next financial year on April 1, 2023, the grand tally of SUV sales in India will be higher than what it did the previous year. Already, SUV sales surpassed the previous record! Oh, la la! Almost two thirds of passenger vehicle sales this year so far is from SUVs. The Society for Indian Automotive Manufacturers (SIAM) concedes that SUV sales surpass the sale of sedans. Good or bad?
“The choice between a sedan and an SUV depends on your usage. If you are mainly driving short distances in the city, where the roads are good and there are no big speed breakers, a sedan is better. Sedans typically have superior ride and better performance than an equivalent SUV, and are more fuel efficient too. However, if your commute is on bad roads, then, of course, an SUV with its higher ground clearance is the right choice,” responds the venerated Autocar magazine responding to a reader request to choose between a sedan and an SUV. (1)
SUVs have more blindspots and less fuel-efficient. Unsuited for city driving and parking hassles. (2)
Funnily, when US President Joe Biden visited General Motors plant to test drive its Bolt EV, he jumped into a Hummer and commented, “Hummer is one helluva a vehicle.” Hummer sales have had a phenomenal rise. Not Bolt. A bolt from the blue for GM? Not at all. Why should they when their coffers fill up faster through Hummer than Bolt?
Okay. What’s wrong with SUVs’ popularity? Listen to Paris Marx, author of Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong About the Future of Transportation. Writing in the December 2022 issue of MIT Tech Review, he draws attention to the International Energy Agency (IEA) findings: “Transportation accounts for 27% of US emissions, more than any other sector, and even though there have been increases in fuel efficiency and EV ownership in recent years, the rise of the SUV has virtually negated their benefits. The IEA found that between 2010 and 2018, growing global demand for SUVs was the second largest contributor to increasing emissions. It would be easy to say that all we need to do is electrify all those SUVs, but its’ not that simple.”
Zero emission by EVs is a load of crap, says Marx. Yes, they don’t produce any tailpipe emissions. The largest batteries require a lot of resource extraction from mines around the world with severe consequences in the form of significant environmental and human consequences: poisoning of water supplies and increasing rates of cancer and lung disease. What about the power needed to charge them when EVs replace ICE-driven vehicles? That’s another big story for future.
Forget these. IEA forecasts a 4,200% increase in the price of lithium only. Marx draws attention to how pedestrian-unfriendly these SUVs are. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration knew pedestrians were two to three times more likely to suffer a fatality when hit by an SUV or pickup truck (as opposed to a sedan) because of their high, blunt front ends. According to Marx, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety pointed out that drivers in SUVs and pickup trucks are likelier to hit pedestrians because their visibility on the road is more limited.
Meanwhile, more SUVs hit Indian roads. Good or bad? As it is, India’s track record on road fatalities is nothing to gloat about.
Ref:
2) https://www.carblogindia.com/suv-vs-sedan-should-i-buy-suv-or-sedan/
