Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Gas prices...

Last night I saw an advert for GMC, and it's offering a 3 year fixed gas price of $2.99 for every SUV sold. Pretty amazing what they'll do isn't it. It's not that I agree gas prices should be high (I am a fan of low cost of driving), there has to be a cost for the environmental impact of cars out there, and this is one way to make people really think about whether they need to drive - but this post is more about wishing the US would see itself in more of a global context. 

Gas prices aren't high in the US, they're not at the bottom of the scale either, but they're closer  to the bottom than top by far...........just a couple of examples from countries with similar (and lower) wage levels than the US.........

UK (Devon) - $9.15 per gallon
France - $8.30 per gallon (april price)
Slovenia - $6.42 per gallon (april price)
Greece - $6.38 per gallon (april price)
Chile - $4.80 per gallon
Hawaii - $4.18 per gallon

It's not like the other countries here don't complain about gas prices, they most certainly do, but there isn't the national hysteria there seems to be in some places here. Every news round I see has to mention how bad gas prices are, and I appreciate that it makes a big impact to families and people on a budget, i'm just getting a little tired of hearing "how bad it is" 24/7, when it isn't 'that' bad at all...... 

4 comments:

Nicola said...

i have always thought about the UK and italy when i mentally whine about gas prices. here in CA it is $4.53 in the cheapest stations. all i hope is that it makes people re-think their driving and their car choices. i heard hummers are going for $20k below sticker. yippee!

RGW said...

And I hope no-one is buying them!

Anonymous said...

And further, I think I heard an announcement that they were considering stopping the production of the hummer--or selling off that division!

Anonymous said...

From the Wikipedia article on Hummers (you know that I had to verify my information):

"The future of the Hummer brand is in doubt. On Tuesday 3 June 2008, one day prior to GM's annual shareholder meeting, CEO Rick Wagoner said the brand is being reviewed, and has the possibility of either being sold, having the production line completely redesigned, or being discontinued. [4] This is due to the decreasing demand for large SUVs as a result of higher oil prices. Almost immediately after the announcement, a pair of Indian automakers have expressed interest in purchasing all or part of Hummer.[5]