>>>>>Ah, but then your government must have been willing to sass the oil companies. That's just not the case over here. Here the government has more of an a$$ ki$$ing sort of relationship with the oil companies.
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>>>>Sadly true. I already asked Terry how the British government did it. I think if we threatened the oil companies and oil producing nations they would hit us back twice as hard in the form of "shortages" and even higher prices. They've got us over a barrel.
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>>>>We (speaking in a general way; you probably drive a very sensible car) don't make it any easier with our love of huge gas guzzling vehicles.
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>>>I drive a VW Cabrio. It's not exactly a gas guzzler, but it's not as good in that vein as my previous car which was a VW Golf Deisel. I really wish this one was deisel. On the other hand, I don't really drive all that much. I commute to work on the commuter train (GO Train in Ontario), but I drive to the GO station (about 9 km = about 5 and a half miles). That's really most of my driving during the week. On the weekend I'll do more driving, but compared with most Torontonians, I drive very little.
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>>>What really kills me is the shear number of SUVs I see around. They truly are ubiquitous. When I go to a mall, I usually park well away from the buildings in the parking lot suburbs, but invariably when I come out to my car I'm surrounded by SUVs. I think they see a small car and instinctively surround it. I still dream of the day when I can see to get out of my parking spot.
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>>If I understand correctly, you drive alone. Some people may have extended families so they need in bigger cars. Also, driving in rural areas generally assumes 4-wheel cars. We lived in NY upstate for a year and had to switch from Corolla to RAV4 by that reason, it wasn't safe to use Corolla in winter time there.
>
>Sure there are people (like one of my nieces) who do need a big vehicle because of the number of people they drive around, but I doubt very much that includes anything remotely near the number of SUVs on the road. for example, my brother (in Tennessee) drives an SUV. Why? because it appears more upscale than a regular car. He an my sister-in-law are the only two people who really use the car.
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>All up and down my street there are SUVs, and I rarely have ever seen more than three people in them.

It means that gas is too cheap regardless any 'collusion'. However, trend is changing. Toyota is the best-selling company now with the most popular brands of Camry and Corolla. It is difficult to expect oil going lower than $50, so gas prices will be at least around $3 (in USA) for all foreseeble future, so gradually value of gas-economical models will increase.