Meep Meep!
When I drive my Prius into a gas station and start pumping behind a big American car that is already pumping, I get a look of acknowledgement. Not positive or negative, just a look. When I pull away before they’ve finished fueling the look turns a hint envious. They get. And some of these big car people aren’t even filling up…they’re just getting $20 worth.
Remember how you could always tell a European movie by the size of the cars in the street and the high pitch of their horns? Meep meep! Well we are getting very close to that environment here in the States. The tipping point is here. The day of the huge car is really over. Pickup truck sales are down, SUVs are down and new cars are getting smaller and smaller. It has taken a while, but most of the size queens are starting to realize they look a silly driving around in big, gluttonous vehicles.
The energy and resource consumption of the average American is 30-times that of a person in an emerging country. Marketers who recognize the future before consumers will be the winners. Toyota did.