Walk across the Kirby-Smith, South Stadium or West Stadium parking lots during a weekday, and students are bound to see an array of vehicles.
From the huge, four-wheel drive Ford F-150s, to tricked-out two-door Honda Civics, there is no telling what students may find.
But pay close attention to the lots and students will see makes and models that were not here five or 10 years ago.
From Toyota’s Prius and Yaris to MINI Coopers and SMART Cars, these eco-friendly vehicles are a new commodity to campus.
The main reason for this shift may be the continual increase in the price of oil. But this trend is not just a local phenomenon.
All across America people are finding ways to adjust to rising oil prices.
For some, that solution may be trading in a “gas-guzzler” for a smaller or hybrid vehicle. And though national automobile sales are steadily declining, local dealerships are still finding success.
The average U.S. auto dealer has lost money from new vehicle sales every year since 2006, according to Autonews.com, and it appears that the same is expected for 2008. Sales of most vehicles decreased this June compared to June 2007, according to national unit sales for June 2008.
The exception: the sale of smaller cars.
Sales of small cars have increased 10.6 percent since July 1, 2007, according to The Wall Street Journal. Sales of light duty trucks are down 28.4 percent from June 2007, and SUV sales have witnessed a 37.7 percent decrease.
Ford, Lincoln and Mercury reported that June sales were down 28 percent versus 2007, largely because of increasing gas prices and the struggling economy. Toyota reported a 21.4 percent sales decrease in June, which was worse than they were expecting.
The top-three vehicles sold in the U.S., according to sales for June 2008, were the fuel-efficient Toyota Corolla Matrix, the Toyota Camry Hybrid and the Honda Civic Hybrid.
While national dealers’ volume and gross sales are down, many local dealerships are not necessarily seeing their sales change for the worse.
Tammy Perkins, salesperson at All Star Nissan, said specific car sales have changed since many consumers are now buying more fuel-efficient vehicles. Though customers are purchasing more fuel-efficient models, the sales volume has not decreased as a whole.
“We are still selling a lot of four-cylinder and six-cylinder cars, but not as many eight [-cylinder vehicles] for sure,” Perkins said.
Other than paying a higher price for an engine with more cylinders, eight-cylinder engines – often V8s – offer more power. This added power makes the engine work harder and causes it to burn more gas. While a four- or six-cylinder vehicle may not have as much power, they generally get better gas mileage than a V8.
Patrick Campbell, general manager of Gerry Lane Chevrolet, thinks the big problem in the industry is not necessarily just the price of gas, but also the cost of living.
“Perception is reality in our business,” Campbell said. “It’s all about consumer confidence. We haven’t seen a big push for hybrids, but there is no doubt that the car business has increased.
“Last month we did see a big reduction in pick-up trucks. But what it really all boils down to is that if you’re a pick-up truck kind of guy, that’s what you’re going to buy.”
While the perception of the automotive industry may be one of sinking sales, Campbell said Gerry Lane remains successful after having an outstanding weekend the final weekend in June.
“We’ve had over 100 customers come to our four locations over [that] weekend,” Campbell said. “Just the Chevrolet store alone delivered 43 vehicles. This weekend at our dealership we delivered 19 Tahoes and Suburbans and 11 trucks, burning gas. We had one of the best weekends in years.”
Campbell said he has seen people trading in vehicles for newer models that provide better fuel efficiency.
However, Kenneth Douglas, salesman at Gerry Lane Hummer Saab, believes SUV sales may not be on quite the downward spiral that many may assume.
Douglas said people frequently trade in a Hummer H2 for an H3, which provides better gas mileage.
“Last week we had three or four H2s go out, and these are people who are supposedly downsizing because of gas,” Douglas said. “SUVs are needed. There’s no way around it.”
Douglas said this may be because customers buying luxury vehicles, like a Hummer, are not considering gas prices to the extent of customers buying economy-sized vehicles.
The H3 is the smallest of the three Hummer models. It is more of a conventional SUV compared to the original Hummer and the H2.
“With an H2 you’re going to get about 12-14 miles per gallon,” Douglas said. “As far as the H3s, they get about 15-20 miles per gallon.”
In recent years the size of SUVs has decreased. For example, the Ford Excursion was one of the largest SUVs around before being discontinued in 2005. The Excursion, which was offered with either a V8 or V10 engine, averaged around 13-17 miles per gallon. In comparison, a 2008 Chevrolet Suburban gets around 15- 20 miles per gallon.
Sales indicate that dealerships selling luxury vehicles are not taking as big a hit as many economy-priced vehicles.
Luxury car sales are down 17.9 percent from this past fiscal year, according to The Journal. The large car category took a big hit though after sales decreased 37.2 percent.
Glenn Thomas, business development director of Mercedes-Benz of Baton Rouge, agrees that sales of luxury vehicles appear to be more stable.
“We are seeing a slow-down, but it is not proportionate to the automotive industry as a whole.,” Thomas said. “It’s [down] about 10 percent [for the year], but we are back about 5 percent.”
Some wonder if the switch to hybrid vehicles is even worth it for consumers, but Campbell thinks otherwise. With hybrid vehicles costing anywhere from $5,000-$10,000 more than standard vehicles, the benefit of less fuel may take a while to accumulate.
“The pertinent question is ‘Are you going to have that car long enough to see the savings?'” Campbell said. “In my opinion, you’re talking about a four- or five-year time frame to see the savings.”
With the average trade-in window for a vehicle being four to five years, some may not glean savings from their hybrid.
Since oil prices are continuoually increasing, many gas stations now limiting the amount of gas per pump.
“The frustrating thing is that I can’t even fill up my tank at most places because the pump cuts off around $100,” said Vohn Mosing, economics major.
Mosing, the driver of a 2006 F-250, said he still drives regularly despite the hit at the pump.
Carly Erwin, communication studies major, said her Honda Accord is great considering the high gas prices.
“I get pretty good mileage so I don’t have to lose a ton of money every time I fill up,” Erwin said.
“Increasing oil prices have affected us all to a certain extent,” said Kelly Roth, a customer at Price Leblanc Toyota. “The price of gas will definitely be a deciding factor when determining my next car.”
—-Contact Tyler Harvey at [email protected]