People who tool around in hulking, big-ol sport utility vehicles have been getting dissed a lot lately, but no one has raked them over the coals like the people who sold them the SUVs in the first place. The multbillion-dollar auto industry does extensive research into its customers, and lately that research has focused quite a bit on the people who buy SUVs.

Investigative reporter Keith Bradsher of the New York Times has looked into the SUV phenomenon for years. He's read marketing reports meant only to be seen within the industry; he's interviewed marketing executives from the car companies and from outside research firms. The industry has come to some unflattering conclusions about the people who buy SUVs. As summarized by Bradsher:

"They tend to be people who are insecure and vain. They are frequently nervous about their marriages and uncomfortable about parenthood. They often lack confidence in their driving skills. Above all, they are apt to be self-centered and self-absorbed, with little interest in their neighbors and communitites...

"They are more restless, more sybaric, and less social than most Americans are. They tend to like fine restaurants a lot more than off-road driving, seldom go to church and have limited interest in doing volunteer work to help others."

One of General Motors' top engineers spoke of the difference between minivanners and SUVers: "SUV owners want to be more like, 'I'm in control of the people around me.'" He went on:

"With the sport utility buyers, it's more of an image thing. Sport utility buyers tend to be more like, 'I wonder how people view me,' and are more willing to trade off flexibility or funtionality to get that."

The executive VP for North American auto operations at Honda revealed: "The people who buy SUVs are in many cases buying the outside first and then the inside. They are buying the image of the SUV first, and then the functionality."

Jim Bulin, a former Ford strategist who started his own marketing firm, told Bradsher: "It's about not letting anything get in your way and, in the extreme, about intimidating others to get out of your way." Daniel A. Gorell, who also used to market for Ford and now has his own firm, says simply that SUV drivers are "less giving, less oriented towards others."

Defenders of SUVs have attacked Bradsher for reporting these things, but they always forget the crucial point: Bradsher isn't the one slamming the SUV owners - it's the auto industry itself.

I would love to hear what any SUV/non SUV owning people have to say about this. If they came out and said something about my old gremlin like this, I think id have something to say to them lol.

Wow. I feel insecure, selfish, vain and a poor driver today.

I used to hate SUVs until I was given a practically brand-new one by my father because my Grand Am wasn't reliable enough to drive around with two small kids. I had to change my tune because my new ride is very nice.

I feel safer, can see farther, don't have to bust my back putting the gigantic 20 month old in his car seat, and I have heated seats now!

I do see the point though when it comes to single people who never go camping, never haul anything bigger than a load of stuff from Costco, and who never leave the city in their Humvees. Oh yes, indeedy do.

Originally posted by Grock
"They tend to be people who are insecure and vain. They are frequently nervous about their marriages and uncomfortable about parenthood. They often lack confidence in their driving skills. Above all, they are apt to be self-centered and self-absorbed, with little interest in their neighbors and communitites...

"They are more restless, more sybaric, and less social than most Americans are. They tend to like fine restaurants a lot more than off-road driving, seldom go to church and have limited interest in doing volunteer work to help others."

Too funny. Yes the fact that I drive a Range Rover makes me not attend church. Religion is a waste of time, nuff said there. I am neither insecure nor vain. I chose this vehicle because as the previous poster graciously pointed out it suites my lifestyle. I want to be able to see traffic further, especially when turning at lights. I also want to be able to load my youngster in with ease and be able to handle inclement weather. I pay dearly at the gas pump but I don't care its what I want.

Plain and simple the market is there for those who wish to buy these vehicles.

brill

Yes I too drive a Land Rover,but I also drive a Scion XB,so I guess I'm a fence sitter,and they better take back what they said,I'm not insecure

I don’t know what to say, other than that I can confirm probably half of what the author says just watching the way people drive their SUVs in my city.

I feel better about the reverse: I always thought I was jumping to conclusions about the annoying people who drive those things, but it’s nice to see I was right.

I have two of these vehicles. That makes me LMAO.

I am one yet I am not. I am not what they describe, but yet I am the subject. I find this supremely intrigueing, yet disturbing. (I have many vehicles for many different purposes - and I know we are not all in that position) but I find this highly disrespectful to the general populace.

I AM the general populace. YOU are the general populace...

I hope we all know the implications of the word "ASSUME".

This ismy opinion from what I have seen on the road most of these vehicles are driven by women ...and badly..

Could never understand the mentality of people driving these things in town...how far do these people need to see in front ...if you drive properly it shouldn't really make a difference!

Plus there is the amount of fuel they use...

Why have a car so you can see further in front and look down on other cars...from my experience ..definately an ego thing!!

"They tend to be people who are insecure and vain. They are frequently nervous about their marriages and uncomfortable about parenthood. They often lack confidence in their driving skills. Above all, they are apt to be self-centered and self-absorbed, with little interest in their neighbors and communitites...

"They are more restless, more sybaric, and less social than most Americans are. They tend to like fine restaurants a lot more than off-road driving, seldom go to church and have limited interest in doing volunteer work to help others."

hahahahahahaha

That so does NOT describe me or my husband at all...and we druve SUVs

That is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever read.

I used to drive little cars, and I hate them.

Oh, and Im a female driver....but my father taught me to drive...so I dont drive like some of those crazy chics who drive while putting on their makeup. LMAO

~Proud SUV driver

[edit on 4-11-2007 by greeneyedleo]

Never used to like them until I owned one. Never go back to a car again. It has nothing to do with status, or anything, just convienence. Nothing better then taking the kids on a ride without them having to sit next to each other =) (DVD player in both rear rows) You can take 7 to 8 people (yes kids have friends, and we do it all the time) but if you need to move something big, it basically becomes a short bed truck when you put the seats down. I can't count how many times when I had my car I had to ask a friend with a truck to help me move something. Never again. Living in Las Vegas, it's fun to actually go out into the desert and explore some of the many offroad trails. It basically is one of the most versatile vehicles you can buy. It can haul many people around in comfort, or it can haul cargo like a truck. Find a car that can do all that
I'll agree gas mileage isn't great (18/28 for me), but well worth the trade off of having a car and truck in one, for me at least.


[edit on 4-11-2007 by b309302]

most people with certain types of SUVs really don't need them. however, people like MM do. there are advantages to them.. but certain ones just go to far. like hummers... i can't even count how many times i saw 1 person sitting in a hummer all alone for the morning commute.

I don't drive an SUV but my mom does. She is neither vain nor insecure and she is a very good driver. The choice to drive an SUV was not really hers though, my dad got her one (Lexus RS300) for her birthday several years ago. He feels safer with her driving that than a small car, although her SUV drives like a tall car to me. Just goes to show that generalizations don't fit everybody I guess.

i'm not a big fan of SUVs, (but that's just a style based opinion).
i didn't understand for many years till i moved out to california why people that bought these, (4 wheel drives in this context) would never take them off-road.

a female friend of mine in colorado bought a used bronco a while back -- perfect vehicle for off-roading. large off-road bf goodrich tires, etc. i asked her if she was going to go 4 wheeling - she said "NO WAY, i don't want to mess it up". so i politely told her that 4-wheeling doesn't hurt your truck. it was made for this type of terrain. but she didn't buy it.

when i moved to california (and was introduced to a daily commute on crappy highways), i came to the realization that larger vehicles soak up the bumps and roads' harsh surface much better than typical passenger cars do, and understood why a lot of people tend to gravitate towards larger vehicles and SUVs.

they may not even realize it, but they ride smooth and have a solid feel. i think it registers in people's subconscious to some degree. -- of course there is the bling factor for some cultures, etc. and *that* consumer would be more on the vain side.

Subaru Outback( a station wagon with 4x4) cargo space: 65.4 cu ft

Landrover (a SUV) cargo space: 74.2 cu ft


Why not get a station wagon instead of a SUV? Or be a two vehicle family with one car and one truck. Personally I like jeeps and landrovers, but theyre a specialty vehicle only, like a truck. Most modern SUVs have no point but to cram as much stuff into one vehicle to make a high pricepoint. They know exactly whos going to buy them.

ok i stopped rading a bit in..
regardless of what you drive.. there are bad drivers and good drivers.

i dont care what vehicle your in.. go 10 mph under the speed limit and your a bad driver.

people that cut in front of you when they never had a blinker on.. can go to hell

peopel that dont let someone over thats had their blinker on for quite some time.. can go to hell..

The vehicle does not make the person.

its too stereotypical.. like saying all blones are dumb.

-G

by the way.. id go for power.. ive had a few cars.. just whatever i can afford.. not a real choice.. ultimately i want power, comfort, and something small and agile.. so i wouldnt want an SUV.. that doesnt make me vain or not. .an asshole or not.. or anything else..

its liek saying ppl like this color so they are vain assholes.. ^_^

-G

Great responses. Im glad to know that Im not the only one who finds this both ridiculous and hilarious.

Im curious though, how many of you might believe in this report?

Well, of course those with suv's are gonna deny this to the ends of the earth why would they admit to that. But also with my short time on this earth I gotta say that broad generalizations are pretty stupid, you can't shoehorn everybody in. My dad has an SUV, cause his company gave it to him. Me and my mom have convertibles ourselves, but that's the joy of living in florida.

Originally posted by shuck
This ismy opinion from what I have seen on the road most of these vehicles are driven by women ...and badly..

Why have a car so you can see further in front and look down on other cars...from my experience ..definately an ego thing!!

I'm a woman and I think I drive pretty well. I drive an old 86 Old's Ciera that is falling apart, and a relative's dodge stratus(a lot of blind spots in that car) I want to get a van or a suv of some sort just because I almost live in my vehicle. I deliver newspapers, have a 6 month old, and I go out of town a fair amount of time and we like taking the dogs with us and a van/truck/suv suits our life that way, but we don't have the money to buy anything new, and out credit is that bad no one will do anything with us. We were buying a van from a friend but he kinda ripped us off. He kept the title and it was in his name, we made the payments and we got the van. When it was paid off we'd get the title. Didn't happen that way... they had a new car(a suv) and they're other car died on them, he said he needed the van back(even tho he was the only one working and his wife didn't need the car during the times he worked...) We refused to give it back cuz it was an agreement and we paid $400 dollars so far plus insurance on it, he called the cops on us and since he had the title in his name we had to give it back. He didn't give us our money back either. That was $400 dollars we could have used to buy a diffrent car.

Well, I drive a "Big Ol SUV", and I also drive an old '76 Capri II, and an XR4Ti,
But when I'm working, it's the '78 Bronco that gets the call, as it carries over
1100bls of tools, a compressor, a table top table saw, a 10" chop saw, all my air
nailers, 3 Skil saws, 1/2 a dozen drills, drivers, impact drivers, hand tools, and
various insundry other tools of my trade...

So who wants to buy me a nice little fuel efficient rig?? The goobermint?? Prolly
not, so I'll continue to drive my old Bronco, so I can earn money, to pay my taxes...

Some people just don't get it...

SteveL