High and Mighty: The Dangerous Rise of the Suv

Rating:
Summary: How can we be so short-sighted?
Review: If you have any compassion for the future of children and other living things, you will be downright frightened by the information and inferences in this book. The author has amassed and analyzed an overwhelming amount of evidence condemning the greed and selfishness of people who produce and purchase these dangerous vehicles. We should all open our eyes to the consequences of using SUVs as they are now classified and regulated. The quality of life that we want to create for our children is being seriously compromised. How can we stop the proliferation of these vehicles of mass destruction? This book presents some cogent suggestions...

Rating:
Summary: Reads Like A Novel With Lots of Facts
Review: This is an excellent book written by a Detroit bureau chief for the New York Times. He worked on and off on the book for almost five years and has produced a compelling and fact filled read of 440 pages plus notes. Excellent job.

I would not call the book "anti-SUV" per se, but rather it is a comprehensive review of the vehicle with some related comments on mini-vans. The facts speak for themselves. An SUV is a passenger vehicle that uses a truck base (motor, frame, suspension) with a special body made from a combination of truck parts and custom parts with luxurious interiors and lots of sound proofing. It costs the same to make as a truck but sells at the price of a luxury car - or higher - and has a marketing prestige value now associated with the vehicle.

The book covers the history of the SUV vehicle type, how the vehicle evolved from the early Ford SUV built by Henry Ford for camping trips at the beginning of the last century, panel delivery vans, the history of the WWII Jeep, the GM Suburban, the Jeep Cherokee, and the Ford Explorer, etc

The author covers the costs to make the vehicle, the taxes on the vehicle, the import barriers on imports, how the unions viewed the vehicle, how the gas consumption CAFÉ regulations were circumvented, how politicians have supported the vehicle, and how environmental groups have tacitly supported the vehicle, etc. The bottom line is that the basic construction is relatively cheap while the selling price is high. So the SUV's have become the cash cows of the auto industry leading to economic revival at GMC, Ford, and Chrysler with similar revivals of the local economies in Michigan, Detroit, and Ohio. Many auto executive careers have been tied to the SUV success and this is discussed in the book.

From a marketing viewpoint the turning point for the industry was the black 1986 Cherokee Limited with gold exterior trim. That car and the SUV's that followed were big seller in the cities and became a substitute for the luxury car. That vehicle was followed by products from GM and Ford, of ever increasing size and profit including the Lincoln Navigator, Cadillac Escalade, etc. These latter vehicles generate huge profits for the auto makers and have in fact displaced the luxury car and have become very popular in unlikely places such as New York city.

Cars and SUV's are marketed and sold by appealing to emotions not common sense. Despite the truck base technology that gives poor handling compared to a car, and the heavy weight and truck engines that give poor gas economy, the car companies have pushed the SUV in order to capitalize on the simple truck technology for the sake of fat profits. In a free society that makes good business sense. However the down side is that unlike Europe that has managed to keep oil consumption relatively constant over the past decade or so the US has increased its oil consumption by 50% due in part to these high gas consumption vehicles - fed by imports of oil from the unstable Middle East. In addition to the increased fuel consumption, the environment has been burdened with more pollution by less efficient (truck) vehicles that has compounded the insult to the environment. Finally, because of the truck construction such as the weight and the high center of gravity of these vehicles - although seeming to be safer, the SUV has a poorer safety records both for their occupants and for the cars they hit - as recorded by the insurance agencies - than for regular mid sized cars. So based on the record the SUV is more expensive, has poor truck like handling, wastes gas, and is even less safe than a mid sized car. One can draw their own conclusion.

The author does an excellent job summarizing the facts. He describes the auto executives running the companies, the technology, how the CAFÉ laws were circumvented, safety, etc. It is a compelling read.

Highly recommend 5 Stars.

Jack in Toronto

Rating:
Summary: Informative but not Mind-blowing...
Review: Well, I'm in the market for a car, and reading this book was sort-of an eye opener. Bradsher indicts SUV's for a host of crimes, but I can't imagine his case converting many who didn't agree with his charges prior to reading this book. You might want to file "High and Mighty" in the "preaching to the choir" section with "Fast Food Nation" and "Earth in the Balance".

That being said, it is a well researched, informative book. Bradsher isn't afraid to criticize the environmental movement, which he believes was co-opted by the sophisticated marketing of the auto industry. His chapters on the history and development of the SUV are first rate. Also interesting was his thorough documentation of the POSITIVE effect the SUV has had on communities in the United States where these behemoths are built. These descriptions, coupled with a tendency for Bradsher to assert harms in the future tense, combine to diminish the strength of his over all argument: that SUV's are baaaaaaaaad.

One thing is for certain: SUV's benefited from a series of regulatory loopholes designed to benefit "light trucks". The very existence of these loopholes are detrimental to the safety and health of American drivers, and action should be take to amend them forthwith.