Global Sales of Polluting SUVs Hit Record High in 2023, Data Shows (theguardian.com) 214
Sales of SUVs hit a new record in 2023, making up half of all new cars sold globally, data has revealed. Experts warned that the rising sales of the large, heavy vehicles is pushing up the carbon emissions that drive global heating. From a report: The analysis, by the International Energy Agency, found that the rising emissions from SUVs in 2023 made up 20% of the global increase in CO2, making the vehicles a major cause of the intensifying climate crisis. If SUVs were a country, the IEA said, they would be the world's fifth-largest emitter of CO2, ahead of the national emissions of both Japan and Germany. Climate-fuelled extreme weather is increasing, with urgent cuts in emissions needed. But emissions from the global transport sector have risen fast in recent years, outside of the Covid pandemic. SUV sales rose 15% in 2023, compared with a 3% rise for conventional cars.
There were more than 360m SUVs on the roads worldwide in 2023, producing 1bn tonnes of CO2 emissions, up about 10% on 2022. As a result, global oil consumption rose by 600,000 barrels a day, more than a quarter of total growth in oil demand, the IEA said. SUVs weigh 200-300kg more than an average medium-sized car and emit about 20% more CO2. In rich countries, almost 20m new SUVs were sold in 2023, surpassing a market share of 50% for the first time. Globally, 48% of new cars were SUVs and, including older cars, one in four cars on the road today are SUVs, according to the IEA.
There were more than 360m SUVs on the roads worldwide in 2023, producing 1bn tonnes of CO2 emissions, up about 10% on 2022. As a result, global oil consumption rose by 600,000 barrels a day, more than a quarter of total growth in oil demand, the IEA said. SUVs weigh 200-300kg more than an average medium-sized car and emit about 20% more CO2. In rich countries, almost 20m new SUVs were sold in 2023, surpassing a market share of 50% for the first time. Globally, 48% of new cars were SUVs and, including older cars, one in four cars on the road today are SUVs, according to the IEA.
Not just any SUVs (Score:2)
Polluting SUVs.
Re: Not just any SUVs (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, it's crazy how the EPA is allowed to outlaw large sedans all around the world.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Saloons/sedans did pretty well here in europe until manufacturers started charging stupid money for them. You're looking at 70K for a new bottom of the range 2.0 5-series now. No private buyer in their right mind is going to pay that sort of money. Its the same story over at Merc and Audi too. At the lower end - eg skoda - the choice of saloons has lessened and most of them are pretty meh frankly with gutless engines and drab interiors. All the design effort is going on SUVs and crossovers these days.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Point of order: it's been Republicans who have been fighting against sane standards since the 1970s. They were the ones who introduced and expanded the "SUV Loophole" in CAFE standards [www.distilled.earth] in the 1970s and 80s, and they're the ones currently fighting against updating fleet standards [rollcall.com] today.
I o (Score:2)
As with any kind of farming not done on a megascale, one needs a day job. Which according to the circumstances of the work I do and the circumstances under which my parents had acquired this property and put their heart and soul and sweat into it over 40 years, the day job and the farm are located 3 and a half hours drive apart. Which is an easy drive because in a state that says "America's Dairyland" on the license plate, and the huge public expenditure on roads of all kinds is what makes the dairy indu
Re: (Score:2)
and
Hmm...investing in the very things that our whole economy and way of life is dependent upon....
Who wouldn't want to upend the entire US, reduce quality of life and regress back about 100 years while we try to tear everything down and
Re: Not just any SUVs (Score:4, Interesting)
Which is because the EPA effectively outlawed large sedans.
You're thinking France, post-war, not the USA, right now.
The French banned the large car by taxing anything over 2 liters' displacement into oblivion.
What happened in the US was a bit different -- The large sedans are still available, but not from domestic makers. They gave up on the car, ,and on drivers, too, judging from the shlock they're passing off as "cars" now.
You want a large sedan, you get an S-Class Benz, or the big BMW 7-series, etc. But you won't find a Buick Roadsmasher anymore, or a Town Car, or a Coupe de Ville or El Dorado or anything like that made in the US. Our carmakers are the most vapid, braindead industry there is. I loathe every single American marque, there are no bright spots anywhere anymore.
Meanwhile, Nissan, Benz, BMW, Mazda and others keep making -- and selling -- cars.
The Large Car was still made here until maybe 10 years ago, at which point Chrylser, GM and Ford all gave up on the car in favor of 'crossovers' and 'suv'
Traitors.
Re: (Score:3)
That may be how it started...but obviously, the public liked/s them, and likely not willing to give them up any time soon....
I'm personally not a fan....and I drive a 2-seater car...BUT, I do appreciate friends that have SUVs and trucks to help me out whenever I need to load up on a bunch of stuff or haul something bulky around...
Re:Not just any SUVs (Score:4)
That's called "Slant" or "Bias."
And, is present in all our media, trying to not-so-subtly steer your thinking.
Re:Not just any SUVs (Score:4)
More people might actually buy EV SUV's if they didn't cost $20,000 more on average than their ICE counterparts. I'm not ready to spend $60,000 on a Kia EV9 (for example), when I can get a similarly optioned Telluride for $40,000.
Carbon traitor! (Score:2)
We are reporting you to the Carbon Police for not springing for the extra 20K for the EV9.
SUVs (Score:3, Interesting)
are kinda meh. Never understood the appeal. I like cars. Lower to the ground, more stable, more fuel efficient. SUVs are like small trucks with their cargo inside the cab instead of outside.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: SUVs (Score:5, Interesting)
Part of the reason they were introduced in the US was that they count as trucks, not cars, so they were allowed more emissions.
Re: SUVs (Score:5, Informative)
Count as trucks, yes - and that provides another advantage - the Chicken Tax [wikipedia.org] prevents foreign competitors from selling foreign made trucks in the US, so the big 3 have an artificial advantage in that segment.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Why do I need a truck with four doors? I want a truck!
So what you want is called a "regular cab" truck. It may also be called a "work truck." They're generally available with either 6 or 8 foot beds, bench seating in the single cab, and a minimum of extras.
Re: SUVs (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
They may need a family mini-van but they will never buy one because they gotta look good. Once everyone could lease whatever they wanted because debt doesn't matter - price is no longer a co
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:SUVs (Score:4, Insightful)
More taxing won't help
Disagree.... just make vehicle registration scale by miles driven annually * weight of vehicle (which is at least a linear approximation of both energy consumed and damage caused to roads), and watch those fleet-averaged curb weights go down with time the same way MPG has gone up. People ARE fundamentally motivated by money.
Re:SUVs (Score:4, Informative)
I prefer sports cars, really, and at this stage in my life, I can afford a Corvette (yeah, I know, doesn't compare with a Porsche or a Ferrari, but those are out of my price range), but I most likely will be in serious pain getting in and out so can't afford one for that reason!
Test drove a 4Runner last summer, and didn't pull the trigger because, 18 MPG on a good day.
I'd like an electric, but, as a previous poster pointed out, not the extra $20K for an electric one, plus, of course, I am one of the 17% that live in a rural community so I have to drive some many miles to a public charger, there aren't any at my work and an added cost would be getting the charger installed at my house ($2000 on average from what I see online).
So, not everyone fits your demographic.
Re: (Score:2)
4Runners have 3.72 or 4.10 meaning they spin faster/burn more gas than if they also had a 3.23 rear end ration, but that would make them less powerful
Re: (Score:2)
What if you like to go out on dirt roads far away from people and sleep in the car on those nights when you don't feel like setting up your sleep kit outside on the ground?
Re: SUVs (Score:3)
Depends. We use the cargo space a lot. It's nice that it is out if the weather and lockable.
Anyone with a dog ought to have it in a crate - SUVs are ideal for that as well. If you do anything other than pure passenger transport, they are very practical.
That said, I hate the fact that they keep getting bigger. Our 2008 RAV/4 was a good size. The new ones are fricking huge. Why???
See what "cars" is Ford making (Score:5, Informative)
I dare you, just go to ford.com, vehicles, SUVs&Cars and be amazed! There's literally ONE car - and that's the Mustang!!!
Then they're probably amazed that Tesla is worth more than Ford, GM, Stellantis, Honda, Volkswagen, BMW, BYD, Hyundai, and Kia combined.
Re: (Score:2)
It's definitely an effect of perverse incentives. Sedans generally cost the same amount to manufacture as an SUV, but for some reason the public is willing to spend a lot more on SUVs than sedans, making the SUVs more profitable.
So you end up with car manufacturers incentivized to make SUVs and trucks instead of sedans. So now we are stuck in a situation where there just aren't enough sedans or smaller vehicles to buy even if you wanted one; you can't buy what isn't for sale.
What's really sad is it shows
Re: (Score:2)
I've done that math before and depending on your perspective, it isn't worthwhile if you consider time to be money. If you assume a 25% increase in efficiency (my cars are lower than that) over the 15 mile trip and a 25 MPG car and $4 per gallon (a bit high for my area) it comes out to 15 / 25 * .25 * 4 = 60 cents saved per trip to drive slower. Looking at the average hours pay in the US of $28 an hour, 1.4 minutes lost is worth 28 / 60 * 1.4 = 65 cents per trip.
OTOH, I don't really see my free time being
Re: See what "cars" is Ford making (Score:2)
Regarding the "time is money" aspect, I might agree if that extra commute time resulted in decreased work time and hence income, but it doesn't. You would still work the same amount of time per day.
I think a better argument would be "time VERSUS money" as your free time outside of work is decreased by the longer commute, not your working time. Is having that fraction of time used on a slightly longer commute and lost as free time worth the money saved?
I equate it to paying delivery fees on food orders. Is
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
REF: https://www.thezebra.com/resou... [thezebra.com]
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Actually a simple google shows the average USA'ian as purchasing a new car every 8 years.
Seems about right. Those cars they are replacing still stay on the road for a while longer though.
Average Age of Vehicles in U.S. Continues to Rise [caranddriver.com]
I expect this trend to continue. New cars purchased today will still be on the road long past 2035. New ICE cars purchased in 2035 will in all likelihood still be on the road in 2050.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
That's ok, you can still call us by our preferred name, you know...the moniker that is over 200 years old...Americans.
Thank you.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I dare you, just go to ford.com, vehicles, SUVs&Cars and be amazed! There's literally ONE car - and that's the Mustang!!!
Then they're probably amazed that Tesla is worth more than Ford, GM, Stellantis, Honda, Volkswagen, BMW, BYD, Hyundai, and Kia combined.
Tesla's "worth" is an absolute fantasy. That's not amazement it's market detachment considering how far behind they are in terms of deliveries and market share from ... everyone on that list.
As for what Ford sells being a reflection of the company, no, it's a reflection of your country. When I go to Ford's website I get 1 SUV and 3.5 cars (Kuga, Focus, Mustang, and the Puma). I say 3.5 because the Puma is listed as an SUV but that's the European definition, which means it's about the size of an American sho
should change the rules (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Yep, if human civilization wants to survive, it should have realized there is a problem decades ago. As it is, it is completely fine to not survive.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
And the people that pass legislation to drive up the cost of goods and transportation get themselves voted the fuck out of office....
They DO work for us, the citizenry, you know...?
But if it's a Cybertruck or Hummer EV (Score:2)
Crap people doing crap things (Score:2)
What else is new? There are a few legitimate applications, but not nearly in the number of SVUs sold.
Re: (Score:2)
Hey, in a FREE country, people don't need a reason to buy and use what they want, you know?
It's a sad world where all one could buy and use was something utility.
Try to find a decent 4 door sedan (Score:4, Insightful)
Try to find a decent 4 door sedan that doesn't cost as much as a compact SUV. Often the price is the same. Since there are so many SUVs on the road, it becomes a visibility issue. If you are the only one at the traffic light in a sedan or hatchback, good luck seeing around the SUVs to turn left.
I love a full size sedan, especially for longer trips. I like a comfortable quiet ride. But when the choice is a Camry vs a Rav4, for the same price, you have to go Rav4. If for the resale value only.
Re: (Score:2)
The problem is the 3 row SUVs that are still getting 20mpg like trucks.
Re: (Score:2)
The solution isn't to push peopl
Re: (Score:2)
good luck seeing around the SUVs to turn left.
If you need to see "around" another car to turn left while standing at a traffic light then the person who designed the intersection should be hung drawn and quartered. Cars don't make your road unsafe, unsafe road and intersection designs make your road unsafe.
Re: (Score:2)
global heating (Score:2)
Global heating -- is that different from global warming? I'm getting confused.
people like them (Score:2)
Sure, I'd like to see more wagon options, but one major reason SUVs sell is because people like them. They like the higher driving position, they fit with the current esthetic for vehicles, they feel they are safer for the driver and occupants and they like the power delivered by the V-whatever.
When the electric equivalents come out (and there aren't that many yet) they will also be energy guzzlers compared to smaller cars and people will still buy them because they like bigger vehicles
Anecdotal evidence, I
silly summary (Score:2)
I just bought a vw taos today. It's getting 28/36MPG vs my old car, a mustang which got 19/25.
There are cars that score a lot worse than crossover/small suvs.
Also more dangerous (Score:2)
SUVs are also far more dangerous [www.cbc.ca] to pedestrians and cyclists than sedans.
But of course in the USA, pedestrians and cyclists count for nothing, so...
I call B.S.on the whole premise.... (Score:2)
Before the SUV was the "in" thing everyone wanted to buy, we still had just as many people interested in driving larger vehicles for a number of reasons. All we've seen in recent years (speaking for America here, at least -- as that's where I live and it's what I'm familiar with) is a consolidation.
The minivan used to be *everywhere*. Practically every family with kids owned one for a while! Gas mileage on a minivan is really no better than it is for most SUVs on the road today.
Before that? We had a lot of
Re: Small vehicles are great... (Score:4, Interesting)
You don't need an SUV for that. Station cars and hatchbacks can carry stuff, too. It's not like all the personal cargo was sent by mail before SUVs existed.
Public transport with a side of car sharing for schlepping stuff works really well here in Munich.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: Small vehicles are great... (Score:5, Informative)
CAFE regulations essentially outlaw station wagons, which are more efficient than SUVs from a cargo/person-mile perspective, because the smug regulators wrote simplistic rules that disregard the transportation capacity of vehicles. This is not an isolated phenomenon.
Re: (Score:2)
You have fun with that...
Re: (Score:2)
No, SUVs are crap at that. A minivan our a much better choice.
The main use of SUVs is commuting to work or driving a kid to school. Maybe the kind of grocery shopping which can be done in a small car or cargo bike of you live in the Netherlands.
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, but you know....a minivan is much like a moped or a fat chick...
Sure they're fun to ride, but you don't want any of your friends seeing you with one....
Re: (Score:2)
I can't imagine why though.
I drove my mum's people carrier when I was a teenager. It was very popular with my friends, since it held six of us in comfort.
I mean you're not wrong, my sister drives one and many of her peers think she's weird. I really don't get it myself. I also don't really understand why one wouldn't want to be seen on a moped or with a "fat chick" (though presumably anyone not 100% conventionally mainstream attractive).
Re: (Score:2)
Your argument equates to "sometimes it's cold enough to need a fur coat so I should just wear one all year long". Ever hear of U-Haul? Home Depot also rents trucks for a very reasonable price (and conveniently is one of the places where I occasionally need a truck).
Re: (Score:2)
The key words are 'cargo' and 'sometimes'. The only cargo people normally have in their vehicles are groceries, and you don't need an SUV to carry your four bags.
The vast, overwhelming majority of people who have an SUV do so because they think it looks cool and they're being safer by being in a big vehicle. Which is the complete opposite of reality considering how readily they endanger t
Re: (Score:2)
Err....where do you live and how large a household do you have where you ONLY need 4x bags of. groceries each week??
Hell, one trip to Costco alone fills up my tiny car and at times, I need to get a friend to take me in his SUV/Truck...
I mean hell, this was Memorial Day weekend, I had a LARGE (40lb) bag of lump charcoal, a 15lb prime whole brisket...trimmings, beer, stuff to make side dis
Re: (Score:2)
...for personal transportation, but there is a lot more to transportation than just moving people
The main use of larger vehicles is for carrying cargo, and pretty much everyone sometimes needs to carry cargo
This is one of the main reasons we can't switch entirely to public transportation
My sedan has plenty of cargo room, especially with the rear seats folded down, that covers 99% of my transporting needs. When I need something larger, the home improvement stores near me have truck or van rental for very low prices.
Re: (Score:2)
...for personal transportation, but there is a lot more to transportation than just moving people
The main use of larger vehicles is for carrying cargo, and pretty much everyone sometimes needs to carry cargo
This is one of the main reasons we can't switch entirely to public transportation
My sedan has plenty of cargo room, especially with the rear seats folded down, that covers 99% of my transporting needs. When I need something larger, the home improvement stores near me have truck or van rental for very low prices.
That's YOU, what about the rest of the world that isn't YOU? Oh that's right, only YOU matter, sorry I forgot.
Yep, which seems to be why sedans are no longer produced and I will not be buying new cars that seem to be limited to crossovers and SUVs. Works for me.
Re: (Score:3)
Minivans have no problems hauling 4x8 sheets of plywood. Try that in a 3 foot long pickup truck bed.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change
Re: (Score:2)
Go live in a barn if you think animals don't generate pollution.
Re: (Score:2, Flamebait)
Re: (Score:2, Troll)
When did water become a problem? Plants require it , we drink it, fish swim in it. All those people moaning about floods, whats wrong with them? Morons!
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
if you say pre industrial levels, then I ask you... WHY?
Because we have an existence proof that it's stable (on the order of hundreds-of-thousands of years), survivable for the ecosystems that actually do exist today, and 100% compatible with human life. Maybe we are in a local minima and there is some *more* optimal equilibrium condition for humans out there, but for each one those optimums that *may* exist there are likely infinitely more outcomes that just result in destruction of established ecosystems we rely on, massive loss of human life, or human extinc
Re: (Score:2)
Re: CO2 isn't pollution (Score:2)
CO2 is an IR absorber and scattered. This is scientific fact, it's not up for debate. This means more heat is trapped in the atmosphere which will change the climate as can been seen right now. You might have the arsehole meh attitude to it but some of us can see the potential dangers. So go back to driving your gas guzzler and pretend it doesnt matter if that eases your conscience.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: CO2 isn't pollution (Score:2)
Melting of the icecaps wont do any of us any favours and if you think migration from the 3rd world is bad now, just wait until the equatorial regions become barely habitable.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Floods deposit nutrient-rich silt in their flood plains. Historically, we developed our agricultural centers around those flood plains because of those nutrients. Even if we mostly use artificial fertilizers now, we need people living in those flood plains to be able to keep eating, so I'm not sure if its a good idea to punish people for living there.
Re: (Score:2)
agreed. whenever did gaseous plant food become pollution?
Pollution is anything in a place it's not supposed to be in a concentration it's not supposed to be in.
trees grow faster, crops grow faster, there is more arable land as places warm up (to a point obviously).
Yeah trees to pretty well, but crops grow poorer and nutrient deficient, and no all modelling suggests a reduction in arable land.
1) we are still FAR below the limit where CO2 becomes a problem
Not only do climate and current existing weather patterns disagree with you, but recent crop failures do as well, as do the scientists who have shown that the 100ppm difference in CO2 has already had a measurable repeatable and causal impact on crop nutrition.
2) the earth's human population could actually start declining thanks to availability/affordability of birth control
And apparently I'm
Re: (Score:2)
agreed. whenever did gaseous plant food become pollution?
Pollution is anything in a place it's not supposed to be in a concentration it's not supposed to be in.
Supposed? By whom?
The Universe does not care if there are humans on Earth, or even if there is Earth. So, in the big schema of things everything is natural and there is no pollution.
You can think about pollution as something that makes your life uncomfortable. But then again, it is all about YOU. I have heard that Russia actually is not against global warming. They are just waiting to get some better climate.
Re: (Score:2)
How do you capture or produce hydrogen?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Now make it profitable.
Re: (Score:2)
Fossil fuel companies have been heavily pushing hydrogen (with fuel-cells) as an alternative for lithium batteries. The main reason is hydrogen can be produced from natural gas, so while hydrogen itself is clean, the production would remain reliant on fossil fuels.
Of course it's not practical in any way. It still depends on fossil fuels, it requires non-existent infrastructure, it's not as energy dense as other methods.
That hasn't stopped right-wingers from trying to use it to argue that electric cars (wi
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I suppose you also object to people who point out that rain is wet.
And yes, there is considerable evidence in a number of refereed papers that the conservative mind-set is associated with several characteristics, such as a tendency to blame the victim and a tendency to project one's own moral and ethical failures onto others. Have you never wondered why so many (conservative) people who are always rattling on about "keeping the children safe from predators" turn out themselves to be predators? Or why so m
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
> Plus electric vehicles are not solving the problem.
Yes they are, but it takes time
> Not only are they still using fossil fuels,
That's false, they use electricity which could be produced from fossil fuels, but even that can be improved over the life of the car
> they require additional valuable resources for batteries.
They use resources for the construction which can be recycled at the end of their life. The production of the car is far better than an ICE car over the lifetime.
> What resource do
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)