Are Americans traveling the road to oblivion? - Lake Geneva Regional News

In 1950, when there were roughly 135 million Americans, the total number of registered vehicles on our highways numbered some 45 million. A half century later the US population doubled, to 300 million. The number of vehicles, however, more than quadrupled to 225 million. And we add approximately 4 to 5 million people more to our census each year, with the estimated result that by the year 2030 there will be 400 million more of us. What does a future look like with tens of millions more vehicles on our roads. A headline in USA Today shouts, “Big vehicles fly off lots…” Further telling us that 2015 promises to be an unprecedented year for auto manufacturers, with a projection of some 17 million unit sales. Mark LaNeve, sales chief for Ford was quoted as saying that the SUV segment of the market “…continues to be smoking hot. GM has sold more than 80,000 full and midsized trucks — up 47 percent — with Ford’s popular F-150 program close behind. At Chrysler, its Jeep brand saw an increase in sales of 23 percent over a year ago. Since the price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude has fallen to $46, or half of what it was a year ago, the consumer has renewed the love affair with oversize vehicles. The Nissan Versa plummeted some 36 percent, while the Leaf fell 61 percent and other brands such as the Chevy Sonic were off 21 percent. Fiat and Ford listed equally disappointing figures. Source: www.lakegenevanews.net