Hybrid SUV

This morning on Squawk Box I heard about the Lexus Hybrid SUV, I thought what an oxymoron? Seems like product differentiation working hard. What is interesting though is the marketing dollars with a convincing messages are effective enough to get a large portion of the consumers in buying the SUV.

Let me try and trace the genesis of the SUV – The Sports Utility Vehicle. The vehicle for ones driving pleasure on the not so trodden road. The rough terrain and the speed adding to the excitement.

So does a Hybrid make sense for an SUV? I guess it does, at least for some of the gas guzzlers. But doesn’t hybrid work only in a start and stop environment like inside a city? So why a Hybrid SUV? An off road vehicle where would be have to stop?

I guess we have redefined the SUV not what for what it was designed but for what its turned out. Soccer moms driving for safety… but aren’t these supposed to be very unsafe on account of their high center of gravity? Oh boy too many contradictions. I am lost!