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TODAY Tuesday 14 October 1997 Each weekday. Conn Nugent on what's new in the world, on the site.

 

TODAY IN THE WORLD: Good Deals at Showroom and Pump

The combination of cheap fuel and overcapacity among automobile manufacturers makes for some great bargains in the personal transportation line. Now's the time to buy anything smaller than a light tank.

The factory overcapacity will be with us for a while, the carwatchers say. Manufacturers headquartered in The US, Japan, and Germany are all trying to increase market share; the Italians and the French are loathe to throw in the towel; and the Koreans are now cranking up production of the Kia, possible harbinger of a new era in low-cost Asian automobiles.

Already the results are visible. A price war is raging among the subcompacts. Robert Simison reports in yesterday's Wall Street Journal that General Motors has just announced sticker prices for 1998 Saturns and Chevy Prizms that are two percent to thirteen percent lower than last year's. The Saturn SL1, which is a cut fancier than the most-basic SL, now retails for $11,295, $300 cheaper than the 1997 model.

GM admits that the low prices constitute a response to Toyota's new aggressiveness. The revamped Corolla costs six percent -- $990 -- less than last year. The Corolla VE, Toyota's equivalent of the Saturn S1, will start at $11,908. And as Simison points out, Toyota doesn't share Saturn's no-haggle philosophy. Come on down!

For the moment, at least, the price wars don't extend to the big profit centers. Pickup trucks and sport-utility wagons (especially the latter) provide mouth-watering margins, and the big fellows seem to be honoring a tacit gentlemen's agreement to postpone vulgar price-slashing. But it can't last much longer. Mercedes is entering the four-wheel drive market with a $36,000 - $40,000 model (soon a must-buy in southwest Connecticut) and the Kia people have already rolled out an Isuzu lookalike that you can get for under $20,000. There's now a four-wheel drive Volvo station wagon. Watch for prices to drop for these chubby babies in about nine months' time.

The fuel economy on the sport-utes is terrible, but big deal. Gasoline is a lot cheaper than bottled water. No one foresees any appreciable rise in the price of oil anytime soon. Demand skyrockets, but supply stays ahead. The inevitable unraveling of sanctions against Iran and Iraq will add to the global supply, and sooner or later even the Russians will get their act together.

You might think that steady increases in the petroleum-purchasing power of the dollar might make for a propitious time to consider a tax on fossil fuels that could help the Clinton Administration and its successors meet greenhouse-gas reduction targets. No way. The same issue of the Wall Street Journal ran a front-page story on global warming that all but assured its readers that no one interested in political longevity is even dreaming about a carbon tax. None of the major enviro groups are pushing for one. When the greens were crushed four years ago in the fight over the proposed BTU tax -- actually, our side didn't really fight very hard, but it might not have made much of a difference if we had -- we effectively conceded the tax-reform issue for years to come. We're still paying the price.

 

TODAY ON THE SITE:

If you haven't noticed yet, we've got a new routine in the Newsroom. Tom Turner now writes a weekly media-watch, called "In Other News... " Tom's assignment is to cover environmental journalism, as found both in the journals of environmental organizations and in pertinent reports from the general-interest media. He can be rough on both. Essential reading for anyone who wants to venture between the lines.

 

Recent "Today" columns:

10/10: Clinton Waffles!
10/09: Can Therapy Help the Songbirds?
10/08: Girls and Puberty
10/07: Japan The Genial Host
10/06: You Don't Need A Weatherman...
10/03: Cochise County, Arizona
10/02: The Copper Queen
10/01: Pesticides in California
9/30: Climate Policy: No Pain, No Gain
9/29: Climate Policy: No Pain, Much Gain

To access more "Today" columns, click "Archives" below.