With local gas prices already over $4.00/gallon and analyst predictions that we will not see a slow down until around $4.50/gallon, do you think that this will mean the end of the SUV? Or, at least, the end of the SUV for those that don't really need them?

From the domestic manufacturers we have already seen GM & Ford announce drastic changes to their plans for truck production in the US. So-called "econo" cars are making a resurgence in the market to the point of people making a profit on older cars that have long since been discontinued (http://edition.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/05/20/geo.metro/index.html). For the first time in years the Ford F-150 is not the best selling vehicle (http://jalopnik.com/394842/civic-pries-best+seller-crown-away-from-ford-f+150s-cold-dead-hands). GM is actually considering selling off the Hummer brand, possibly to Indian or Russian buyers (http://jalopnik.com/396535/more-evidence-points-to-hummer-sale-russians-chinese-interested). Hydrogen based cars are being tested by both Honda (http://jalopnik.com/396608/honda-looks-to-follow-gm-by-fueling-hydrogen-hopes-with-hollywood-hype) & Mazda (http://jalopnik.com/396638/mazda-hydrogen-van-approved-for-testing-despite-lack-of-wings-and-fluorescent-dragons).

So is it all just short-sighted panic or is this the start of the change in how the US drives?

Just look at what is selling and what is not.

You guys aren't paying $12 a gallon like us!!!! Well, actually I think our gallon is just larger than yours.

But when it comes down to it, the structure of a 4x4 used commonly as a school run vehicle for its safety might stay around, simply be replacing the engine with an alternative. Drop the power? No problem if you keep the assumed safety for your kids.

You guys aren't paying $12 a gallon like us!!!! Well, actually I think our gallon is just larger than yours.

But when it comes down to it, the structure of a 4x4 used commonly as a school run vehicle for its safety might stay around, simply be replacing the engine with an alternative. Drop the power? No problem if you keep the assumed safety for your kids.The biggest problem with gas prices in the US is not the actual rate but the expedited time line in which prices increased several fold. If US petrol prices had risen at the same rate as our UK cousins then I think we would have seen alternative energy measures enacted long ago.

I originally said that the days of the SUV were over... but what if we all switched to electric cars? And what if, in forty or fifty years, fusion driven reactors made energy so inexpensive that you could cost-justify the additional weight and mass of an all-electric SUV?

Or, to put it another way:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/recon83/ark2.jpg

Or, to put it another way:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/recon83/ark2.jpg
Darn it, I had to google that! The vehicle looks like a spare from the set of Damnation Alley but I don't recall ever watching Ark II.

Ark II was da bomb, as the kids say today. Really sort of advanced for its day... kind of like a Gamma World for 70's kids TV.

But that's off-topic. Back on topic, I can safely say this: anyone buying a new SUV should probably be beaten with a stick. I cannot believe that the American auto industry didn't see the writing on the wall post-Katrina and totally revamp their production facilities to make less SUVs and more fuel efficient cars.

It also kills me that 30 miles to the gallon is considered to be fuel efficient -- it was just, what, 15 years ago that the Geo Metro was getting 52 miles to the gallon? Why on earth are we putting up with ads like the Hummer 3 that boast of getting (gasp) twenty miles to the gallon???

It also kills me that 30 miles to the gallon is considered to be fuel efficient -- it was just, what, 15 years ago that the Geo Metro was getting 52 miles to the gallon? Why on earth are we putting up with ads like the Hummer 3 that boast of getting (gasp) twenty miles to the gallon???As somebody who switched from a small vehicle (Geo Tracker LSi) to an SUV (Jeep Grand Cherokee) just let me say that some vehicles just are not practical for everybody. Driving over 50+ miles a day to/from work along some major PA highways I was convinced that I was going to by killed in a Geo Tracker after getting caught in the draft of an 18-wheeler as it was flying by me. My commute these days is the same distance but is about 2/3rds on back roads that in winter time are useless with small econo-boxes. So the Cherokee it is for me.

Now if my driving was limited to strictly in-town then the Geo might make more sense for me. And it was for exactly that reason that I donated the Geo to another family member who indeed only had in-town driving and very light winter driving.

So far though my 2008 budget for repairs to the Cherokee is going to come close to my 2008 estimated gas costs. :banghead:

I realize that this threads been dead for a while, but I don't think SUV's are. Americans love large vehicles, some of them have a legitimate need for them. I think as they improve the mileage for them, sales will pick back up again.