Australians are driving bigger, heavier, dirtier cars and it’s alarming both climate and road safety experts.
A decade ago, sedans and hatchbacks were the most popular cars in Australia. Today, Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) and American-style utes dominate new car sales and advertising.
A few years ago when the Pulsar was getting a little small for the kids and all their kit, I was looking for a wagon. Something like a Falcon wagon.
For a vehicle class that I thought of as ubiquitous, the options for a simple wagon were surprisingly few. Further, the SUVs were surprisingly economic to run. We’re talking a few years back, I forget the exact figures, but the Outlander that I ended up buying was in the same ballpark as a Falcon wagon.
So, I am a part of this statistic, but a bit of the blame needs to fall on manufacturers who pivoted away from medium cars and to SUVs. Electric cars were not on the cards at all. Well out of my budget, and the range of models out today didn’t exist, yet.
