GM, Chrysler to stop making full-size truck-based SUVs

GM won't design a new Chevrolet Suburban.

General Motors has canceled plans to redesign its long-running Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe full-size SUVs, the New York Times reported, shortly after Chrysler announced it would discontinue its competing Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen after this year.

Sales of truck-based SUVs declined sharply as gas prices rose, prompting the two automakers' decisions. GM had decided in May not to fund a replacement for its high-profit full-size models, when prices were higher and rising fast.

The replacement for the Tahoe and Suburban, as well as the GMC Yukon and Yukon XL and Cadillac Escalade, would have been released as 2012 models to replace the current line, which was introduced for 2007. 

Motor Trend magazine has reported GM will not drop the Escalade name, instead applying it to a large car-based SUV that will share its architecture with the Buick Enclave and Chevrolet Traverse crossovers instead of the Tahoe and Suburban. There is no word on what fate the other names will face.

GM first started selling Chevrolet Suburbans in 1933, and it evolved into a more familiar shape in 1973. 

Chrysler introduced the Dodge Durango in 1998 as a midsize SUV, then enlarged it in a 2004 redesign. The largely identical Chrysler Aspen was introduced as a 2007 model. Chrysler announced last week that the factory producing the two vehicles would be closed by the end of this year.

While many customers who had been using full-size SUVs primarily as tough-looking minivan alternatives are now looking at smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, the large truck-based SUV remains the primary choice for large families that tow large trailers. Fortunately for these consumers, neither Ford nor Toyota has expressed plans to drop their Tahoe and Durango competitors. 

GM and Chrysler had collaborated on a hybrid system for their full-size SUVs that rolled out in the Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon, and Cadillac Escalade early this year and on the Chrysler SUVs this fall. Both companies hope to apply the technology, which was an expensive and slow-selling option on the GM SUVs, to smaller products.

These changes will not affect the two automakers' full-size pickup trucks, which remain popular. GM's Chevrolet Silverado remains the country's best-selling vehicle. 

Photo courtesy of General Motors