There was a time not that long ago when SUVs were General Motors’ crown jewels. Gas was cheap, credit was easy and everyone wanted a full-size SUV. But a lot has changed since the early 1990s, and thanks to a perfect storm in market conditions, GM will likely pull the plug on its full-size SUV program.
GM’s GMT 900-based sport â€utes – which include the Chevy Tahoe and Suburban, GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade – have been some of the most profitable vehicles in GM’s 100-year history, but waning market conditions have reportedly ended their run at the top.
The big SUVs were scheduled for a redesign in 2011 on an all-new platform – dubbed CXX – but GM has cancelled those plans, possibly marking the end of the full-size SUV at GM.
“It would have been very difficult in today’s environment to spend a couple of billion dollars to do a replacement,” Bob Lutz, GM’s vice chairman, told The New York Times. “Reality had set in.”
Cadillac ’s popular Escalade has been rumored to make the switch to GM’s Lambda crossover platform, but the future for the other GMT 900 models looks dubious at best. With GMC and Chevrolet already fielding Lambda-based crossovers, there really isn’t any room for the Tahoe and Yukon to make the transition. And with Chrysler recently announcing its SUV program is hanging in the balance, it’s quite possible that the merger of two American car companies could net zero full-size SUVs.
