SINGAPORE — Gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles, the carrier of choice among fashionable urban women and affluent families, remain popular across the Asia-Pacific region despite soaring oil prices.
From the smart streets of Singapore to the dangerous alleys of Manila, imposing SUVs with race-ready engines and enough luggage space for a serious mountaineering expedition tower over everyday traffic.
Never mind that the body paint gleams like nail polish, the toughest obstacles they face are speed bumps and the farthest they have traveled is a picnic grove in the suburbs.
Manufacturers and industry analysts say most SUVs now sold in the region are midpriced, passenger-car-based models produced by Asian companies such as Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Isuzu, Suzuki, Subaru, Kia and Hyundai.
But for those who want real respect, nothing less than a Volvo, Land Rover, BMW, Lexus or Porsche four-wheel-drive will do.
In the Philippines, wealthy people fearful of being kidnapped or carjacked find massive SUVs a necessity, not a luxury.
“When someone blocks your path, you can just ram him over,” a prominent Manila businesswoman said. “Paying for rising oil prices is still cheaper than paying ransom or buying a new car because someone took yours at gunpoint.”
In the politics-mad Philippines, SUVs are not just symbols of affluence, but blunt instruments of power as they navigate the congested and potholed streets of the capital, which suffers from seasonal flooding.
Among politicians and businessmen, one of the most popular models is the Ford Expedition, usually sporting darkly tinted windows.
The ultimate power trip is to be in a VIP convoy of SUVs heading against normal traffic flow — no Philippine traffic cop earning less money per week than the cost of a tank of gasoline would dare stop them.
Auto-industry analyst Graeme Maxton, a director of research firm Economist Intelligence Unit based in Hong Kong, does not expect $60 a barrel crude and the higher pump prices to have an impact on Asian SUV sales.
“Looking two or three years out, there is an incentive for governments to begin to push small-vehicle sales,” he said. “When you get tax incentives and penalties for gas guzzlers, then perhaps the market will shift.”
In Bangkok, legendary for its traffic woes, SUVs are seen as status symbols, like the latest mobile phones.
“Sales of our SUVs have not dropped at all. We still deliver around 1,000 SUVs to our clients every month, and bookings also have not dropped,” said a company official at Toyota Motors in Thailand.
“For people who can afford more than [$25,000] cars, oil price is not a factor. They decide to buy SUVs because of their design and utility, rather than fuel consumption.”
In Jakarta, Indonesia, as in Manila, SUVs do what they’re designed for, enabling drivers to navigate poorly maintained highways and periodic flooding.
For ordinary Indonesians who can’t afford imported SUVs, the homegrown “Kijang” multipurpose vans are hugely popular.
In Malaysia, where off-road motoring is a niche sport, SUVs are more popular as urban vehicles for comfort and safety reasons.
And while some imported SUVs are expensive status symbols, locally assembled models at around $30,000 are still within reach of a middle-class family.
Over the long term, however, the macho, fuel-thirsty SUVs, which first became popular in the United States, are giving way to more practical models that are in touch with their feminine side.
Eiji Kawahara, a Tokyo-based auto analyst for JP Morgan Securities, said the SUV market was shifting to “crossover” models, which provide better fuel efficiency and are easier to drive.
Hybrid models combining gasoline and electric motors also have been developed for SUV lovers with an environmental conscience.
In Australia, sales of SUVs remain strong. The most recent figures show that total SUV sales were up 12.1 percent overall for the first five months of the year. In May alone, sales were up 16.6 percent from a year ago. In Japan, in May, 15,232 SUVs were sold, up 24.8 percent from April. On a year-on-year basis, the May sales surged 47.3 percent.
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