it’s about time

I hope not, for the Big 3’s sake.

Damn right shoulda been at the begining of time~!

it would have been nice if they stopped at the mini van

“There’s no excuse in the world anymore for truck based SUV’s” Well, that’s crap. The excuse is maybe a lot of people will still want them. Take a Jeep Wrangler and make it a unibody “crossover”. See how well that goes over, b/c it sure as hell won’t be going over any rough terrain!

Not gonna happen. Doesn’t matter where gas prices are, these vehicles fill a niche and there will always be a need.

It is a good thing that there is an emerging market for CUV’s, as it provides an alternative for those who want/need an SUV’s versatility and drivetrain options; however, BOF SUV’s do serve a purpose, and there will always be a market for them.

There will always be plenty of purists out there whoe refuse to drive an suv that is not truck based because in their eye it’s not tough enough.

I think what you will see is the demise of most true truck based SUVs but a few will still survive as there are some people that need them. Yeah you can tow 8,000 lbs all day long with a unibody design, the Range Rover proved that, but you can’t do it cheaply.

You will see a few body on frame SUVs that are not really based on a previous truck platform. The Wrangler is like that as is the LR3/RRS although the Land Rovers are really sort of a BOF/Unibody hybrid design. You will also see a lot of SUVs that are on unique unibody platforms of their own not shared with another car. The current Alabama triplets from Mercedes are like that even if two of them will be total failures. The next gen X5 is going to be like that and the new RDX is like that too.

Someone is playing games. The Chevy Tahoe is selling extremely well as are its cousins, the GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade. Are they too many models of truck-based SUVs? Probably. But, this is a different question. But, when everything shakes out, we will have nearly as many SUV brands as we do now.

of 87 vehicles currently on the road classified by Edmunds as an SUV (Using their new model research) fewer than 20 are BOF.

Can you point me to that research because I bet some fo the ones they have listed as BOF aren’t really BOF.

They do not differentiate between BOF and non-BOF, you just have to be knowledgeable enough (which I know you are) to know the difference.

If you go to Edmunds.com, inside the orange box for new cars there is a section for ‘Research a Car’, click on the link for SUV’s. on the next page, select the link for ‘all SUV’s

I apologize, there are 89 vehicles classified by edmunds as SUV for consumer research purposes

link:
http://www.edmunds.com/apps/vdpcontainers/do/ViewTypeModels/category=type/attribute=suv

Those us us that need truck type utility, towing and family friendly seating capacity can always go with a 4 door truck anyway.
But the point has been made, the Tahoe is a great rig and is selling quite well. It is one that will probably survive the changes.

My 07 Tahoe will never be replaced. This car is the ultimate urban vehicle, great for long road trips with my friends, or a night out in town,… gas prices just went down too.

The way I see it, it’s crossover all the way. It’s the logical choice.

this is another example of a writer composing something faintly controversial sounding in order to get national attention to his or her byline.

nothing more.

SUVs will be here forever – the suburban has always been here, and it always will be.

will the mid-sized ones survive? hard to say – they’re already changing into minivans now, and have been. but to claim that truck-based SUVs are going the way of the “wood-paneled station wagons of the 1970s” – well, that’s an example of an entire article written around a single phrase the writer dreamed up while probably going to the bathroom.

The BOF SUV replaced the BOF station wagon. People that need to tow stuff and also haul the kids around will need these vehicles. I don’t doubt that the unibody crossover vehicles will rise, as they do provide higher levels of comfort and are where the industry has been going for years (how may BOF cars exist nowadays? 2?), but there will always be a niche.

If it starts to look stupid getting out of an SUV at the country club or valet parkers start putting SUVs around the back at fancy restaurants then the SUV is so gone

Big Oil is not going to be happy about this. They are counting on GM’s gas guzzling lineup of SUVs and especially HUMMER for profits.

C’mon people buy those Tahoes, Yukons and Suburbans. Treat your wife to a new H2 Hummer. Please! I want a new pool!

SUVs will disappear at the same time dining room tables with seating for 6 disappears. The SUV will disappear maybe when people stop buying jet skis, boats, snow mobiles, motorcycles… Maybe they will stop being produced when they finally come out with what everyone has been asking for, the Smart For 6 with 5ton towing capacity!! They sell, because they are usefull.

“Take a Jeep Wrangler and make it a unibody “crossover”. See how well that goes over, b/c it sure as hell won’t be going over any rough terrain!”

The Jeep Cherokee was a crossover.

Piablo, just how did those people cope before the SUV was invented?

The Jeep Cherokee was NOT a crossover. It was a unibody wagon with a 5 link SFA and leaf spring live rear and ground clearance. Crossover’s are called crossovers because they are unibody wagons based on existing car platforms. They get their name from having a car plat form that ‘crosses-over’ in adaptation to the SUV market.

Bonquisha Sheneequah Sharkeesha Shi-thead Jackson, (LMAO!), not sure man. My guess, they all used the Griswald Family hauler. Maybe a suburban before they called it an SUV.

Which brings me to another point. So it’s the extinction of the SUV… Probably right. Now bear witness to the brilliance of marketing, and the stupididty of the public. It’s called the Folgers Switch! You will get the same vehicle, but it will be called something else. If I could look into the future, my guess is, it will be called….a Crossover!! Because an SUV with front wheel drive and a hybrid system is not really an SUV. No, it’s something else, a Crossover! It still weighs 3 tons, has seating for up to 8 people, but it no longer angers the greenie weenies because it’s no longer called a SUV. Brilliant.

I think we all need to go buy a Hummer to offset this decline. Or one of the dozen fullsize GMT900’s

Yeah the Jeep Cherokee and Original Grand Cherokees were not crossovers. They had their own platforms not based on any car, they had solid axles and low range gear boxes. The Cherokee was one of the first vehicles that proved you did not need a overly heavy BOF chassis to be good off road.

HEY! HEY! HEY!

Now just a darned second here! This is totally unfair if it is true! Just because the market is in decline doesn’t mean an entire car segment can just go away! That would be insanely stupid– like saying no one is interested in the light sportscar market anymore at the end of the 1990’s! *SARCASM*

Good riddance. Genuine off-road vehicles can stay but anything to rid ourselves of these behemoths and return the car market to CARS is a very good thing.

Agreed, Jim in LA – The market may shrink quite a bit, but they are here to stay.
Hell, when the first CAFE came up All the big three kicked and screamed that they couldn’t meet the requirements. Well look what happened. They did it dispite their own predictions. There are very good engineers out there and they will prove themselves “wrong” again.

Also remember the news of GM putting their nice diesel in their SUV’s within the next year or so. That is just going to raise the desirability of the vehicle IMHO.
Jim in LA is right. These aren’t going anywhere soon. A few of the posers might go away but we will always have this type of rig available.

Bonquisha Sheneequah Sharkeesha Shi-thead Jackson, the way people got by before SUV’s was by driving large station wagons, full-size vans, or Suburbans. I grew up in Texas, and on our street there were loads of Suburbans, quite a few full size wagons (Ford LTD, Chevy Caprice?), and a few people had vans. Visiting family up north, the van was more popular.

The Suburban was an ‘86, well before “SUV” was coined …… and I think it got similar mileage to today’s model … now that’s progress, kids. But it could tow a boat, was reliable for it’s time, (relatively) affordable, and the a/c could cool it down to “meat locker”, even in the Texas summer.

Good nobody needs to drive a BARN that size anyway..

I like how so many people on this board seem to know what is good for everyone else in the world.
“I don’t need to seat 6 people and tow 8000lb loads frequently so no one else needs to either”.

Fatstrat, actually the only ones really lusting over those huge SUV’s are the Americans.

Death to the body-on-frame SUV

Hummer will be gone soon!

I love BOF vehicles, sturdy, easy to repair and can pull a like a truck.

Hummer isn’t going anywhere. They are the greatest thing to happen to America since the dawn of time. Big Oil couldn’t survive without Hummer or the dozen other full size GM SUV’s out there on the roads.

I encourage all of you to go out and trade your piddly Toyota or Honda or BMW for a Hummer and enjoy the high life.

LMAO Oilinvestor…don’t push it.

1c3dog — BOF vehicles have their place, no doubt. Its just that everyone does not need them.

A soccer MILF does not really need a Suburban, she is better with an Odyssey and some snow tires for teh winter.