Times are tough at the pump, but no tipping point
Source: Worcester Telegram (Original Article)
Oh! Those sharp gas pains!
Times are tough at the pump, but no tipping point — yet
WALLETS AND POCKETBOOKS
By Aaron Nicodemus TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
By Aaron Nicodemus TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
When 23-year-old college student John Lachapelle of Douglas started looking for his first new car, the first thing on his mind was gas mileage.
“Oh, it was huge,†he said when asked how much gas prices affected his search. “I’d say it was in the top three. Maybe even the top.â€
His aging Jeep gets about 17 miles to the gallon, forcing him to fill up more than once a week for his daily commute to Worcester State College.
“When I first bought the Jeep, I liked the look of it. I didn’t think much about mileage,†he said. “Now I look at how much it costs to fill up, and figured I ought to find something better on gas.â€
He bought a 2008 Honda Civic, not the hybrid, but the model with a conventional gasoline engine.
“I like the look of the car, and I could afford it,†he said. The Civic gets 36 miles per gallon on the highway, 26 in the city. The Civic hybrid gets even better mileage, but costs $2,000 more.
As gas prices close in on $4 per gallon, consumers have begun moving away from large trucks and SUVs and into smaller, more fuel-efficient cars. Auto industry analysts say the consumer shift from gas guzzlers to gas sippers has officially reached record levels.
“The small-car segment of the market is doing very well. It’s actually at the highest point we’ve seen since we’ve started tracking it†in 2002, said Jessica Caldwell, an industry analyst with Edmunds.com, an automotive consumer Web site in Santa Monica, Calif.
Small cars made up a record 22.6 percent of all cars sold in the month of Gold Credit Card April, she said.
“I’m expecting …continue reading