FU*K!

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

You just did.

No I didn't. Manufacturers know which way the wind blows but they don't make the wind, only adjust their sails accordingly. Advertising is to grab their share of the pie. Enough of it could push the market to irrational exuberance, but doesn't have the power to create the market. They only wish they had that power.

Of course. But if this was purely demand based, then Jeep would have been the #1 car in the US before the SUV push, having a virtual monopoly of the market. The manufacturers created much of the demand.

The pre-SUV Jeeps were pretty hard core. Most soccer moms would not be happy with the ride or effort involved.
The maintenance schedule was also pretty rigorous. Lots of heavy duty whirring and clicking bits that had to be serviced regularly, especially on sand driven Jeeps. My landlord had to repack all four wheel bearings after every surf fishing trip. He wasn't being paranoid, experience had proven he couldn't do it every other trip.

After a couple of weekend interruptions, my fishing partner would spend most of a day, during the week, going over the Cherokee to insure a trouble free weekend trip. And this was not sandy surf fishing, but fresh water fishing with mostly paved surfaces except launching the boat.

The growth of the SUV market cause a great deal of development in new design parts with more reliability/less maintenance. It also brought a better ride and less effort.