. . . before gas is up.
Trump's war on Iran has caused gasoline prices to start climbing, and the Iranians have closed the Strait of Hormuz that separates the Persian Gulf from the Arabian Sea. This strait, one of the narrowest maritime bottlenecks in the world, is the only way Arab oil can get out into the world because that's where the Persian Gulf is from where the Gulf states ship their oil exports.
Which is very inconvenient for people who own a Ford Expedition.
Or just about any other sport utility vehicle on the market today.
Of course, if you have a Honda Civic, you'll get off easier. Maybe not by much, but you'll still be able to drive by a gasoline station and honk your horn in merriment while some guy is blowing 140 bucks to fill the gas tank in his Chevrolet Tahoe.
But if you prefer to try to save money on gasoline, no matter what vehicle you own, you'd better be prepared for spending more money on gas and liking it, because mass transit, never very comprehensive in most of These States, has been contracting and cratering of late. As I noted on this blog, it's almost impossible to take a bus into new York City from parts of northern New Jersey.
No matter . . . given how long and protracted this oil shock will be - because even though the U.S. is a leading oil producer, the closing of the Strait of Hormuz raises oil prices everywhere, because it's a global commodity, and they won't drop for a long time even if the war in Iran is over tomorrow - that means that the era of the sport utility vehicle and the daily-driver pickup truck is almost over.
It's too bad that General Motors and Ford don't have any existing car platforms, especially in the compact segment, to replace the light trucks and crossovers that are suddenly going to be even more hard to sell than they already are. Stellantis may be able to retool its American factories with cars based on Opel and Peugeot platforms.
And I have one question to ask of Volkswagen . . .
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