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Convertible Drives takes Hit with High Gas Prices
Filed under: Opinion, Convertibles, Luxury
When we were kids in the '60s (yes, some of us are that old, you whipper snappers!), our family Sundays were spent taking a ride in the country. Back then there were not many interstate highways like we have today. So a drive to a small town on the outskirts of the major city in which we lived was a major adventure. Much of the drive was done on two lane country roads.
Fast forward to 2008.
With the price of gas where it is, those Sunday drives of the past are gone. According to R.L. Polk, convertible registration 2007 dipped 8.9 percent. That number should go way down again, especially when you consider that the high price of gas was not $4 a gallon at any time last year.
Still convertibles account for less than 2 percent of the total U.S. market. But they're important for many Americans who used to take those weekend drives in the convertible.
Luxury car marquees will be feeling the pain. These companies account for the largest number of coupes and convertibles. Companies like Porsche and BMW weigh heavily on the success of these cars. Ford Motor *** on the other hand, states it no longer relies on its Mustang convertible to bolster its bottom line.
More news can be found at MSNBC. Our take?
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