New Perils at the Pump

Detroit thought rising gas prices wouldn’t affect consumers till the needle hit $3 a gallon. It was wrong.

Aug. 29-Sept. 5, 2005 issue – Hummer drivers, welcome to the era of the $100 fill-up. No matter what you drive, the new normal is monthly gas bills that look like car payments. After a year of $2-a-gallon gas, we worry that it could pass $3 and approach the inflation-adjusted record. Analysts blame a combustible mix of Mideast instability, Chinese demand and overtaxed refineries. The result: accelerating inflation.
The effect is most dire in Detroit, which still derives most of its profits from SUVs and pickups. The national average for a tank of gas is about $2.55. The Big Three always viewed $3-a-gallon gas as the threshold that would drive car buyers out of their guzzlers and into gas misers. But consumers have already started changing their habits. Even before this summer, sales of big SUVs were off significantly. Now Detroit is scrambling to re-engineer its lineup. Chrysler’s new CEO, Tom LaSorda, is asking his engineers to look at sacrificing horsepower for mileage