High gasoline prices are beginning to push Americans away from the full-size pickups and sport utility vehicles that generate the most profits for automakers.
Big pickups like the Chevrolet Silverado are still selling well in the United States, but buyers are gravitating to the smaller versions of such trucks. And sales of hybrid cars and midsize vehicles are growing.
General Motors said Thursday that sales of the Silverado, the company’s flagship truck, were up 3 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier. But the growth came from a light-duty version of the truck. Sales of heavy-duty Silverados slumped. So did sales of the Suburban, a three-row sport utility vehicle, contributing to a 6 percent decline for all G.M. vehicles. Buyers gravitated to smaller, less expensive models like the Chevrolet Trailblazer and Trax.
That story was similar at Stellantis, the parent company of Ram and Jeep. Sales of light-duty Ram pickups rose 73 percent while sales of heavy duty trucks fell 6 percent, the company said. A newly introduced hybrid Jeep Cherokee also sold well.
It is too early to declare that the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, the reason fuel prices have surged, is prompting Americans to fall out of love with big trucks and sport utility vehicles. Relationships that deep do not end overnight.
“Midsize is in, but it doesn’t mean we’re completely losing the full-size S.U.V.s,” said Erin Keating, executive analyst at Cox Automotive. Many Americans are reacting to higher fuel prices by driving less or cutting back on other purchases, rather than choosing smaller vehicles, she added.
