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As gas prices climb higher and higher, car dealers are anxiously waiting: Will hybrid car sales rise, too? While everyone applauds the Arab awakening, continuing unrest in the great oil-producing region has sent gasoline prices skyrocketing. In the US, most consumers now pay more than $ 3 per gallon, while Californians with their high fuel efficiency standards pay more than $ 4 per gallon.
At the moment, buyers are flocking to small, fuel-efficient vehicles, including hybrid cars. Will the trend last? If consumers are simply reacting to the headlines of the moment, then maybe not. However, most consumers look at a complex web of factors when shopping for a car or truck. In addition to the short-term outlook for oil production and hence gas prices, consumers are also quite aware of the long-term outlook. Peak oil is most likely upon us. Car buyers factor this in their calculations and often end up with hybrid cars and hybrid trucks for that very reason.
Another major issue for car buyers is cost. Today’s cars are extremely expensive and the lowest cost vehicles cost around $ 13,000. The average cost of the car is somewhat higher. In fact, according to the National Association of Automobile Dealers, the average new car sold in the US costs $ 28,400. Median income is $ 46,326, so buying a new car is obviously an extremely important financial decision, second only to buying a home.
As a result, buyers certainly expect their vehicles to not only last an average of 10 years, but also to be as fuel efficient as possible. The SUV craze of a few years ago has definitely cooled off, at least in part, because of the average gas mileage: 17.4 miles per gallon. typical automobile average of 24.8 miles per gallon. Older SUV owners have long calculated that they might as well keep the cars until they wear out because $ 28,400 will buy a lot of gas.
Even regular gas-powered car owners are feeling the pain these days, as the average for a typical car is 24.8 miles per gallon. So for those contemplating a new car purchase, the pendulum is clearly tilted toward smaller fuel-guzzling models and especially hybrid cars and hybrid trucks.
In addition to saving money on fuel and, by the way, also protecting the environment, the cost of hybrid cars has been declining in recent years as technology matures. Today, the average hybrid car costs between $ 19,000 and $ 25,000, about the same as gasoline cars, and can be expected to save money in the long run.
Many hybrid vehicles now cost the same or slightly more than their gasoline-only counterparts. The Toyota Camry hybrid, for example, costs only $ 500 more than the gas-powered Camry. With the hybrid’s 33 mpg, payback should occur in about a year. For the pricier Prius, of course, at 51 mpg in the city and 48 mpg on the highway, the Camry’s gas-powered payback is over 2 years. Of course, car owners these days keep their cars longer, so most new hybrid car owners will still have the car and its gas savings long after the payback period is over.
Most Americans are delighted with developments in the Middle East despite the consequent rise in gasoline prices. We can be grateful to have comparably priced hybrid cars and hybrid trucks to buy. It looks like consumers will buy those hybrid vehicles.