Not. Cheap gas creates social problems not goods. I am pleased to see a decline in giant SUV's. There are still way too many of them.
Funny that they dont even mention the MPG in the article or the fact that the EPA overstates MPG considerably so actual MPG is even worse.
GM Drives to New Image for SUVs
Goal Is to Shift Perception To Fuel-Efficient Vehicles; Jabs at Rivals Are Planned
December 27, 2005
General Motors wants to change the perception of its sport-utility vehicles from gas guzzlers to fuel economizers.
In a new marketing campaign for its 2007 Chevy Tahoe -- which hits showrooms in January -- General Motors will flaunt fuel efficiency as one of the vehicle's main selling points.
"We've been positioned over time as the gas-guzzling company," says Mark LaNeve, head of GM's marketing and sales. "Do we sell a lot of full-size SUVs? Yes, but do our SUVs get the best in class for fuel economy? Yes."
Sales of the Chevy Tahoe alone dropped by almost 20% in November to 7,850 vehicles compared with the same period last year, while those of the comparable-sized Avalanche fell by more than 31%. Sales of the larger Chevy Suburban dropped 43.6%. After years of double-digit growth, GM expects the market for large SUVs to remain flat in 2006 at about 780,000 units.
In the same vein, I heard an interesting story on NPR this weekend about an "alternative fuel" loophole Detroit uses to get around the clean air regulations so they can sell more of these fuel efficient Tahoes and Suburbans.
'Flex-Fuel' Concept Fails to Deliver on Potential
December 26, 2005
You may be surprised to know that since the 1990s, American roads have been filled with cars capable of running on alternative fuel. These so called "flex-fuel" vehicles can burn either gasoline or ethanol -- or almost any mixture of the two. The problem is, most drivers don't know their cars can do this, and the "flex-fuel" concept is backfiring.
