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Shift to SUVs is old news, I'm not sure what the significance is for reporting it in 2019. Is there a new insight that should be noted on this topic?
Vehicle sales in the US are flatlined at 17m units, this is also old news. Vehicle ownership (drivers or vehicles per capita) is changing for a several reasons. Very predictable and not surprising. Carmakers are playing in a market where the pie is not getting bigger from a unit volume point of view. This means the market participants need to each either other's pie if they want more unit volume. An alternative way to compete, is to add features and content, and to raise price either strategically or across the board. This allows total revenue in the market to increase, and profits along with it. Note that commodities (glass, plastic, steel, aluminum) are generally flat to slightly declining (favorable) now, so profit expansion is normal and expected at this time.
Premium pricing of desirable vehicles (pickup trucks, electric vehicles) is also not new. As an example, there hasn't been a business case for a consumer to buy a diesel passenger car in the US for 20 years, because car companies pocket the money in the higher purchase price of a diesel model, that the consumer would otherwise enjoy through reduced fuel consumption and overall longevity/durability. Carmakers and car dealerships generally extract all of the money out of the consumers' pockets.
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