As a general rule of thumb, people hate any sort of price increase for any consumer item, especially necessities. Gasoline is one of them.
Unfortunately, gas prices have been steadily increasing reaching record highs heading into this summer. There is no telling when oil prices will go down since all signs point to the fact that oil prices will remain high for the years to come.
As a result, more and more American car buyers are purchasing smaller, cheaper and more fuel efficient cars. It is the only means by which people can ease the burden of rising fuel costs.
People now end up buying cars that can save them money, not necessarily buying what they want. Of course having to settle for something because of monetary constraints can be very frustrating.
At first glance, nothing good can be taken with this oil price hike.
However, rising oil prices may actually yield possitive benefits down the road.
For one, driving smaller more fuel efficient cars are actually better for the environment. Many environmentalists have urged people to cut CO2 emissions by purchasing smaller cars years ago. But now that gas prices are becoming too tight on the pocket, people have no other choice but to buy smaller cars.
Granted, the new trend doesn't bode well for American car manufacturers known for big sporty light trucks. But then again, this whole situation could be a wake up call for American auto makers to think forward into the future. The likes of GM and Ford have been in/ near the top for so long that the urge to innovate has somewhat stagnated. Now that Toyota is ready to overtake GM and Honda is also gaining more and more momentum as well as the other Asian auto makers in the U.S., perhaps American car makers can now go back to the drawing board and assess how they can move forward to win back the American market. To do so, American car makers have to be up-to-date. No longer can they simply rely on old formulas (like banking on SUVs and pickup trucks) because they are simply impractical for the times.
Hillary Clinton mentioned in one of her primaries that if Henry Ford were alive today, he would be shocked at how different the cars look nowadays. But he would also be surprised to see how little has changed with the combustion engine. For more than a century, majority of cars are still dependent on regular gasoline: and many American cars are very excessive when it comes to consuming gas. The message of the speech, is simply to motivate forward thinking ideas for more innovation to be less dependent or to be fully independent from oil.
In addition, Carlos Ghosn, CEO of both Nissan (NSANY) and Renault (RENA), expects that gas prices to normalize at a high rate. Producing fuel efficient cars is the way to go for the auto industry. He also mentioned that he expected a breakthrough in electric car technology.
What car manufacturer will come out with the breakthrough technology in electric cars? Who knows. But this new race could be a new opportunity for American car manufacturers. After all, the Tesla Roadster could be promising.
Perhaps, the hard times will force American auto makers to innovate for the future, to be independent from oil moving towards cleaner if not zero emission cars. Sometimes, pressure can be a good thing. It just depends on how people view the matter and how people handle the matter.
Unfortunately, gas prices have been steadily increasing reaching record highs heading into this summer. There is no telling when oil prices will go down since all signs point to the fact that oil prices will remain high for the years to come.
As a result, more and more American car buyers are purchasing smaller, cheaper and more fuel efficient cars. It is the only means by which people can ease the burden of rising fuel costs.
People now end up buying cars that can save them money, not necessarily buying what they want. Of course having to settle for something because of monetary constraints can be very frustrating.
At first glance, nothing good can be taken with this oil price hike.
However, rising oil prices may actually yield possitive benefits down the road.
For one, driving smaller more fuel efficient cars are actually better for the environment. Many environmentalists have urged people to cut CO2 emissions by purchasing smaller cars years ago. But now that gas prices are becoming too tight on the pocket, people have no other choice but to buy smaller cars.
Granted, the new trend doesn't bode well for American car manufacturers known for big sporty light trucks. But then again, this whole situation could be a wake up call for American auto makers to think forward into the future. The likes of GM and Ford have been in/ near the top for so long that the urge to innovate has somewhat stagnated. Now that Toyota is ready to overtake GM and Honda is also gaining more and more momentum as well as the other Asian auto makers in the U.S., perhaps American car makers can now go back to the drawing board and assess how they can move forward to win back the American market. To do so, American car makers have to be up-to-date. No longer can they simply rely on old formulas (like banking on SUVs and pickup trucks) because they are simply impractical for the times.
Hillary Clinton mentioned in one of her primaries that if Henry Ford were alive today, he would be shocked at how different the cars look nowadays. But he would also be surprised to see how little has changed with the combustion engine. For more than a century, majority of cars are still dependent on regular gasoline: and many American cars are very excessive when it comes to consuming gas. The message of the speech, is simply to motivate forward thinking ideas for more innovation to be less dependent or to be fully independent from oil.
In addition, Carlos Ghosn, CEO of both Nissan (NSANY) and Renault (RENA), expects that gas prices to normalize at a high rate. Producing fuel efficient cars is the way to go for the auto industry. He also mentioned that he expected a breakthrough in electric car technology.
What car manufacturer will come out with the breakthrough technology in electric cars? Who knows. But this new race could be a new opportunity for American car manufacturers. After all, the Tesla Roadster could be promising.
Perhaps, the hard times will force American auto makers to innovate for the future, to be independent from oil moving towards cleaner if not zero emission cars. Sometimes, pressure can be a good thing. It just depends on how people view the matter and how people handle the matter.
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