Japs involved in oil speculation?

KSUmarksman

OK its my first conspiracy theory, so what do you think?

Is there a strong possibility that Japanese automakers are involved in pumping up oil prices to affect change in auto buyers?

The fact is that while gas was relatively cheap no sensible American driver who could afford a full size car/SUV/large truck would want to drive a compact "econocrapbox" (term coined and copyrighted by me [:D]).
Now that gas is approaching $4/gallon it seems that SUVs and REAL CARS (ie. cars with more than 200 horsepower and room for large Americans) have become unpopular and the itty-bitty compacts are becoming more popular.

By my logic I would not be caught dead in a small, uncomfortable compact car...so I'm guessing that gas prices are the main driving force behind this. So what is the likelyhood that the Japanese automakers are involved in oil speculation?

FrancF

[;)] Thats Vehicles per 100 people

#1 United States: 765 motor vehicles per 100 p
#2 Luxembourg: 686 motor vehicles per 100 p
#3 Malaysia: 641 motor vehicles per 100 p
#4 Australia: 619 motor vehicles per 100 p
#5 Malta: 607 motor vehicles per 100 p
#6 Italy: 566 motor vehicles per 100 p
#7 Canada: 563 motor vehicles per 100 p
#8 New Zealand: 560 motor vehicles per 100 p
#9 Austria: 558 motor vehicles per 100 p
#10 Japan: 543 motor vehicles per 100 p
#11 Portugal: 537 motor vehicles per 100 p
#12 Iceland: 522 motor vehicles per 100 p
#13 Norway: 494 motor vehicles per 100 p
#14 Belgium: 484 motor vehicles per 100 p
#15 Spain: 471 motor vehicles per 100 p
#16 Cyprus: 450 motor vehicles per 100 p
#17 Lebanon: 434 motor vehicles per 100 p
#18 United Kingdom: 426 motor vehicles per 100 p
#19 Netherlands: 417 motor vehicles per 100 p
#20 Slovenia: 413 motor vehicles per 100 p
#21 Denmark: 408 motor vehicles per 100 p
#22 Czech Republic: 399 motor vehicles per 100 p
#23 Qatar: 378 motor vehicles per 100 p
#24 Ireland: 359 motor vehicles per 100 p
#25 Estonia: 353 motor vehicles per 100 p
#26 Saudi Arabia: 336 motor vehicles per 100 p
#27 Greece: 329 motor vehicles per 100 p
#28 Bahrain: 322 motor vehicles per 100 p
#29 Antigua and Barbuda: 302 motor vehicles per 100 p
#30 Bahamas, The: 289 motor vehicles per 100 p
#31 Lithuania: 267 motor vehicles per 100 p
#32 Israel: 263 motor vehicles per 100 p
#33 Hungary: 262 motor vehicles per 100 p
#34 Poland: 261 motor vehicles per 100 p
#35 Bulgaria: 239 motor vehicles per 100 p
#36 Slovakia: 237 motor vehicles per 100 p
#37 Libya: 234 motor vehicles per 100 p
#38 Croatia: 233 motor vehicles per 100 p
#39 Saint Kitts and Nevis: 223 motor vehicles per 100 p
#40 Latvia: 214 motor vehicles per 100 p
#41 United Arab Emirates: 193 motor vehicles per 100 p
#42 Barbados: 188 motor vehicles per 100 p
#43 Tonga: 174 motor vehicles per 100 p
#44 Uruguay: 174 motor vehicles per 100 p
#45 Suriname: 172 motor vehicles per 100 p
#46 Argentina: 170 motor vehicles per 100 p
#47 Saint Lucia: 166 motor vehicles per 100 p
#48 Dominica: 163 motor vehicles per 100 p
#49 Singapore: 158 motor vehicles per 100 p
#50 Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of: 157 motor vehicles per 100 p
#51 Trinidad and Tobago: 151 motor vehicles per 100 p
#52 Oman: 150 motor vehicles per 100 p
#53 South Africa: 146 motor vehicles per 100 p
#54 Mexico: 138 motor vehicles per 100 p
#55 Romania: 135 motor vehicles per 100 p
#56 Fiji: 129 motor vehicles per 100 p
#57 Russia: 124 motor vehicles per 100 p
#58 Seychelles: 118 motor vehicles per 100 p
#59 Costa Rica: 116 motor vehicles per 100 p
#60 Venezuela: 110 motor vehicles per 100 p
#61 Belarus: 109 motor vehicles per 100 p
#62 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: 100 motor vehicles per 100 p
#63 Ukraine: 98 motor vehicles per 100 p
#64 Panama: 97 motor vehicles per 100 p
#65 Chile: 97 motor vehicles per 100 p
#66 Mauritius: 88 motor vehicles per 100 p
#67 Algeria: 87 motor vehicles per 100 p
#68 Jamaica: 85 motor vehicles per 100 p
#69 Brazil: 81 motor vehicles per 100 p
#70 Tunisia: 71 motor vehicles per 100 p
#71 Turkey: 67 motor vehicles per 100 p
#72 Paraguay: 63 motor vehicles per 100 p
#73 Dominican Republic: 62 motor vehicles per 100 p
#74 Botswana: 57 motor vehicles per 100 p
#75 El Salvador: 57 motor vehicles per 100 p
#76 Vanuatu: 54 motor vehicles per 100 p
#77 Morocco: 53 motor vehicles per 100 p
#78 Azerbaijan: 51 motor vehicles per 100 p
#79 Iraq: 50 motor vehicles per 100 p
#80 Moldova: 49 motor vehicles per 100 p
#81 Jordan: 47 motor vehicles per 100 p
#82 Bolivia: 46 motor vehicles per 100 p
#83 Ecuador: 44 motor vehicles per 100 p
#84 Samoa: 41 motor vehicles per 100 p
#85 Peru: 41 motor vehicles per 100 p
#86 Guyana: 41 motor vehicles per 100 p
#87 Albania: 35 motor vehicles per 100 p
#88 Nicaragua: 33 motor vehicles per 100 p
#89 Philippines: 31 motor vehicles per 100 p
#90 Egypt: 30 motor vehicles per 100 p
#91 Cape Verde: 30 motor vehicles per 100 p
#92 Colombia: 29 motor vehicles per 100 p
#93 Djibouti: 28 motor vehicles per 100 p
#94 Sri Lanka: 25 motor vehicles per 100 p
#95 Iran: 23 motor vehicles per 100 p
#96 Indonesia: 21 motor vehicles per 100 p
#97 Congo, Democratic Republic of the: 19 motor vehicles per 100 p
#98 Guatemala: 19 motor vehicles per 100 p
#99 Senegal: 18 motor vehicles per 100 p
#100 Liberia: 13 motor vehicles per 100 p
#101 Papua New Guinea: 13 motor vehicles per 100 p
#102 Haiti: 12 motor vehicles per 100 p
#103 Cote d'Ivoire: 12 motor vehicles per 100 p
#104 India: 12 motor vehicles per 100 p
#105 Honduras: 11 motor vehicles per 100 p
#106 Sierra Leone: 11 motor vehicles per 100 p
#107 Belize: 10 motor vehicles per 100 p
#108 China: 10 motor vehicles per 100 p
#109 Nepal: 9 motor vehicles per 100 p
#110 Pakistan: 8 motor vehicles per 100 p
#111 Cameroon: 8 motor vehicles per 100 p
#112 Burma: 6 motor vehicles per 100 p
#113 Guinea-Bissau: 6 motor vehicles per 100 p
#114 Burkina Faso: 6 motor vehicles per 100 p
#115 Mauritania: 5 motor vehicles per 100 p
#116 Burundi: 5 motor vehicles per 100 p
#117 Guinea: 5 motor vehicles per 100 p
#118 Niger: 4 motor vehicles per 100 p
#119 Angola: 4 motor vehicles per 100 p
#120 Central African Republic: 4 motor vehicles per 100 p
#121 Uganda: 4 motor vehicles per 100 p
#122 Chad: 3 motor vehicles per 100 p
#123 Sudan: 3 motor vehicles per 100 p
#124 Somalia: 3 motor vehicles per 100 p
#125 Rwanda: 2 motor vehicles per 100 p
#126 Mozambique: 2 motor vehicles per 100 p
#127 Bangladesh: 2 motor vehicles per 100 p
#128 Benin: 2 motor vehicles per 100 p
#129 Ethiopia: 1 motor vehicles per 100 p
#130 Mali: 1 motor vehicles per 100 p
#131 Madagascar: 1 motor vehicles per 100 p
#132 Nigeria: 1 motor vehicles per 100 p
#133 Afghanistan: 0 motor vehicles per 100 p

beneteau

I've always thought that car makers (all of them) and oil companies were in cahoots!

11BravoCrunchie

quote:Originally posted by FrancF
[;)] Thats Vehicles per 100 people

#1 United States: 765 motor vehicles per 100 p
#2 Luxembourg: 686 motor vehicles per 100 p
#3 Malaysia: 641 motor vehicles per 100 p
#4 Australia: 619 motor vehicles per 100 p
#5 Malta: 607 motor vehicles per 100 p
#6 Italy: 566 motor vehicles per 100 p
#7 Canada: 563 motor vehicles per 100 p
#8 New Zealand: 560 motor vehicles per 100 p
#9 Austria: 558 motor vehicles per 100 p
#10 Japan: 543 motor vehicles per 100 p
#11 Portugal: 537 motor vehicles per 100 p
#12 Iceland: 522 motor vehicles per 100 p
#13 Norway: 494 motor vehicles per 100 p
#14 Belgium: 484 motor vehicles per 100 p
#15 Spain: 471 motor vehicles per 100 p
#16 Cyprus: 450 motor vehicles per 100 p
#17 Lebanon: 434 motor vehicles per 100 p
#18 United Kingdom: 426 motor vehicles per 100 p
#19 Netherlands: 417 motor vehicles per 100 p
#20 Slovenia: 413 motor vehicles per 100 p
#21 Denmark: 408 motor vehicles per 100 p
#22 Czech Republic: 399 motor vehicles per 100 p
#23 Qatar: 378 motor vehicles per 100 p
#24 Ireland: 359 motor vehicles per 100 p
#25 Estonia: 353 motor vehicles per 100 p
#26 Saudi Arabia: 336 motor vehicles per 100 p
#27 Greece: 329 motor vehicles per 100 p
#28 Bahrain: 322 motor vehicles per 100 p
#29 Antigua and Barbuda: 302 motor vehicles per 100 p
#30 Bahamas, The: 289 motor vehicles per 100 p
#31 Lithuania: 267 motor vehicles per 100 p
#32 Israel: 263 motor vehicles per 100 p
#33 Hungary: 262 motor vehicles per 100 p
#34 Poland: 261 motor vehicles per 100 p
#35 Bulgaria: 239 motor vehicles per 100 p
#36 Slovakia: 237 motor vehicles per 100 p
#37 Libya: 234 motor vehicles per 100 p
#38 Croatia: 233 motor vehicles per 100 p
#39 Saint Kitts and Nevis: 223 motor vehicles per 100 p
#40 Latvia: 214 motor vehicles per 100 p
#41 United Arab Emirates: 193 motor vehicles per 100 p
#42 Barbados: 188 motor vehicles per 100 p
#43 Tonga: 174 motor vehicles per 100 p
#44 Uruguay: 174 motor vehicles per 100 p
#45 Suriname: 172 motor vehicles per 100 p
#46 Argentina: 170 motor vehicles per 100 p
#47 Saint Lucia: 166 motor vehicles per 100 p
#48 Dominica: 163 motor vehicles per 100 p
#49 Singapore: 158 motor vehicles per 100 p
#50 Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of: 157 motor vehicles per 100 p
#51 Trinidad and Tobago: 151 motor vehicles per 100 p
#52 Oman: 150 motor vehicles per 100 p
#53 South Africa: 146 motor vehicles per 100 p
#54 Mexico: 138 motor vehicles per 100 p
#55 Romania: 135 motor vehicles per 100 p
#56 Fiji: 129 motor vehicles per 100 p
#57 Russia: 124 motor vehicles per 100 p
#58 Seychelles: 118 motor vehicles per 100 p
#59 Costa Rica: 116 motor vehicles per 100 p
#60 Venezuela: 110 motor vehicles per 100 p
#61 Belarus: 109 motor vehicles per 100 p
#62 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: 100 motor vehicles per 100 p
#63 Ukraine: 98 motor vehicles per 100 p
#64 Panama: 97 motor vehicles per 100 p
#65 Chile: 97 motor vehicles per 100 p
#66 Mauritius: 88 motor vehicles per 100 p
#67 Algeria: 87 motor vehicles per 100 p
#68 Jamaica: 85 motor vehicles per 100 p
#69 Brazil: 81 motor vehicles per 100 p
#70 Tunisia: 71 motor vehicles per 100 p
#71 Turkey: 67 motor vehicles per 100 p
#72 Paraguay: 63 motor vehicles per 100 p
#73 Dominican Republic: 62 motor vehicles per 100 p
#74 Botswana: 57 motor vehicles per 100 p
#75 El Salvador: 57 motor vehicles per 100 p
#76 Vanuatu: 54 motor vehicles per 100 p
#77 Morocco: 53 motor vehicles per 100 p
#78 Azerbaijan: 51 motor vehicles per 100 p
#79 Iraq: 50 motor vehicles per 100 p
#80 Moldova: 49 motor vehicles per 100 p
#81 Jordan: 47 motor vehicles per 100 p
#82 Bolivia: 46 motor vehicles per 100 p
#83 Ecuador: 44 motor vehicles per 100 p
#84 Samoa: 41 motor vehicles per 100 p
#85 Peru: 41 motor vehicles per 100 p
#86 Guyana: 41 motor vehicles per 100 p
#87 Albania: 35 motor vehicles per 100 p
#88 Nicaragua: 33 motor vehicles per 100 p
#89 Philippines: 31 motor vehicles per 100 p
#90 Egypt: 30 motor vehicles per 100 p
#91 Cape Verde: 30 motor vehicles per 100 p
#92 Colombia: 29 motor vehicles per 100 p
#93 Djibouti: 28 motor vehicles per 100 p
#94 Sri Lanka: 25 motor vehicles per 100 p
#95 Iran: 23 motor vehicles per 100 p
#96 Indonesia: 21 motor vehicles per 100 p
#97 Congo, Democratic Republic of the: 19 motor vehicles per 100 p
#98 Guatemala: 19 motor vehicles per 100 p
#99 Senegal: 18 motor vehicles per 100 p
#100 Liberia: 13 motor vehicles per 100 p
#101 Papua New Guinea: 13 motor vehicles per 100 p
#102 Haiti: 12 motor vehicles per 100 p
#103 Cote d'Ivoire: 12 motor vehicles per 100 p
#104 India: 12 motor vehicles per 100 p
#105 Honduras: 11 motor vehicles per 100 p
#106 Sierra Leone: 11 motor vehicles per 100 p
#107 Belize: 10 motor vehicles per 100 p
#108 China: 10 motor vehicles per 100 p
#109 Nepal: 9 motor vehicles per 100 p
#110 Pakistan: 8 motor vehicles per 100 p
#111 Cameroon: 8 motor vehicles per 100 p
#112 Burma: 6 motor vehicles per 100 p
#113 Guinea-Bissau: 6 motor vehicles per 100 p
#114 Burkina Faso: 6 motor vehicles per 100 p
#115 Mauritania: 5 motor vehicles per 100 p
#116 Burundi: 5 motor vehicles per 100 p
#117 Guinea: 5 motor vehicles per 100 p
#118 Niger: 4 motor vehicles per 100 p
#119 Angola: 4 motor vehicles per 100 p
#120 Central African Republic: 4 motor vehicles per 100 p
#121 Uganda: 4 motor vehicles per 100 p
#122 Chad: 3 motor vehicles per 100 p
#123 Sudan: 3 motor vehicles per 100 p
#124 Somalia: 3 motor vehicles per 100 p
#125 Rwanda: 2 motor vehicles per 100 p
#126 Mozambique: 2 motor vehicles per 100 p
#127 Bangladesh: 2 motor vehicles per 100 p
#128 Benin: 2 motor vehicles per 100 p
#129 Ethiopia: 1 motor vehicles per 100 p
#130 Mali: 1 motor vehicles per 100 p
#131 Madagascar: 1 motor vehicles per 100 p
#132 Nigeria: 1 motor vehicles per 100 p
#133 Afghanistan: 0 motor vehicles per 100 p



The number of vehicles per 100 persons in Iraq continues to drop every day as more vehicles are converted to VBIEDs or used as speed bumps on routes used primarily by M1 Abrams MBTs.

duckhunter

Sounds like you are ON to something.

kristov

KSU, you are two young to have been around for the first oil shock back in '73 when the price of crude tripled overnight (and that is no exageration). Unless you were driving a VW Bug back in '73 the chances were good that you were riding in a big assed piece of Detroit iron and these cars became major liabilities pretty darned fast. The Japanese had small cars in the pipeline but in numbers no where enough to meet surging demands so the only folks making a killing on selling those little Datsuns (as Nissan was then known) and Hondas were the US dealers who were marking them up WAY above sticker price. Japan has virtually no known petroleum resources (one of the factors leading to WWII) and imports nearly 100% of it's crude so the sudden hike in oil prices hits their economy as hard as anyone else, far more than they could gain in increased automobile sales. These days Koreans probably sell more econo-boxes in the USA than the Japanese, who have been marketing larger and luxury vehicles like Lexus, Infinity and full sized pickups and more or less ignoring the little economy models.

daveald

I think you must have left something out of your list there.
According to it each person in America has 7.65 vehicles, I know that we are considered to be a rich nation but I seriously doubt the numbers.

sabb0007

I think they are nonexistent since the Japanese have little to no oil, blame the Arabs and the American consumer for their insatiable thirst for money and energy.

LaidbackDan

Possibly Kyoto?

Plotzky

quote: KSU, you are two young to have been around for the first oil shock back in '73 when the price of crude tripled overnight (and that is no exageration). Unless you were driving a VW Bug back in '73 the chances were good that you were riding in a big assed piece of Detroit iron and these cars became major liabilities pretty darned fast. The Japanese had small cars in the pipeline but in numbers no where enough to meet surging demands so the only folks making a killing on selling those little Datsuns (as Nissan was then known) and Hondas were the US dealers who were marking them up WAY above sticker price. Japan has virtually no known petroleum resources (one of the factors leading to WWII) and imports nearly 100% of it's crude so the sudden hike in oil prices hits their economy as hard as anyone else, far more than they could gain in increased automobile sales. These days Koreans probably sell more econo-boxes in the USA than the Japanese, who have been marketing larger and luxury vehicles like Lexus, Infinity and full sized pickups and more or less ignoring the little economy models.



Yup!...Feller is young, lots a'things he's going to experience going forward...He's a keeper though...[;)]

Colt Super

That density astonishes me !!

Almost 8 vehicles per person ??

I'd like to look at your source.

Thanks.

Doug

* spelling

nomadictao

Doug Wilson quote: That desity astonishes me !!

I have seen similar stats, and it seems they left a zero off on this one. The US should be 765 vehicles per 1000 persons.

ElMuertoMonkey

KSU,

First off, they managed to snag the number one position from U.S. automakers without high gas prices. It was a mixture of turning out a quality product along with shortsighted American ignorance and greed that allowed this to happen.

Next up is the fact that it was the Japanese that came up with the SUV concept in the first place. In order to get around U.S. truck tariffs, they concocted this scheme to label certain vehicles "sports utilitiy vehicles". The accompanying low mileage was something they didn't bother to address.

Also, let us take a look at how much oil Japan imports and we'll see that it hovers near 100%. Jacking prices up to record heights helps one industry while shooting every other one they possess square in the face.

While cute, your conspiracy theory has little to merit further consideration unless, like most conservatives, one simnply must blame someone else for one's own failures.