Saturday, March 12, 2005

Gas Prices Seen Hurting SUV, Truck Sales Will people change their habits? DETROIT (Reuters) - Rising U.S. gasoline prices are hurting sales of large sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks, according to some industry analysts, a trend that could stall a major engine of profits for Detroit's automakers. The gas-thirsty, full-sized SUV segment lost 1.2 percentage points of U.S. market share over the last two months and large pickups were down about 2 percentage points, according to Edmunds.com, which tracks the industry. Fuel-efficient compact cars, on the other hand, gained 2.2 percentage points of market share in the same period. 12:31:03 PM    comment [] Oil prices rise in Spring when they are usually stable. Are we running out? "We are now near springtime when prices traditionally don't rise since demand is usually lower than in the remaining seasons," Sheikh Ahmad said. Most OPEC members are pumping at full tilt. As was the case last year, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait are the only cartel producers with significant spare capacity and will have to take responsibility for any further supply increase. 12:27:26 PM    comment []

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