Steve
06-12-2008, 12:05 PM
I guess this is just common sense:
DETROIT — Even in northern Wisconsin, where midsize sport utility vehicles are as common as deer, people are starting to abandon them because of high gasoline prices.
It's one of the last places to back away from the class of SUVs, which includes the once-popular Ford Explorer and Chevrolet TrailBlazer. Some industry analysts are already declaring the midsize SUV extinct.
"They're dinosaurs. Put a fork in them," Erich Merkle, vice president of auto industry forecasting for the consulting company IRN Inc. in Grand Rapids, Mich., said in an interview.
It's no secret that drivers are flocking to smaller, more fuel-efficient cars as the cost of gas marches higher. And midsize SUVs are built on the same frames as trucks, which add extra weight and drink more fuel.
So drivers who want a bigger ride are opting for newer crossover vehicles — such as the Ford Edge or Buick Enclave — that look and perform like SUVs but are lighter because they're built on the same underpinnings as cars.
They're not well-equipped to go off-road, but analysts say few people were using that feature, anyway.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,365714,00.html
DETROIT — Even in northern Wisconsin, where midsize sport utility vehicles are as common as deer, people are starting to abandon them because of high gasoline prices.
It's one of the last places to back away from the class of SUVs, which includes the once-popular Ford Explorer and Chevrolet TrailBlazer. Some industry analysts are already declaring the midsize SUV extinct.
"They're dinosaurs. Put a fork in them," Erich Merkle, vice president of auto industry forecasting for the consulting company IRN Inc. in Grand Rapids, Mich., said in an interview.
It's no secret that drivers are flocking to smaller, more fuel-efficient cars as the cost of gas marches higher. And midsize SUVs are built on the same frames as trucks, which add extra weight and drink more fuel.
So drivers who want a bigger ride are opting for newer crossover vehicles — such as the Ford Edge or Buick Enclave — that look and perform like SUVs but are lighter because they're built on the same underpinnings as cars.
They're not well-equipped to go off-road, but analysts say few people were using that feature, anyway.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,365714,00.html