When the current GMT900 SUVs hit the market in 2006, gas prices were already near $3.00 per gallon, but the super-sized transports sold in prodigious numbers anyway. The reasoning from the General and its customers was that there were still people with big boats or trailers to tow, and unibody CUVs just aren't up to the task. In the two years that followed, gas prices have gone from pesky to pandemic, and buyers are leaving their body-on-frame SUVs by the thousands.
The General isn't blind to the trend, and a report from Bloomberg says that GM may be ready to take the drastic step of separating the platforms of its trucks and full-size SUVs by 2012. The move is extreme because SUVs and trucks have saved development time and money by sharing a platform for many decades, but with such a dramatic shift away from the handy but fuel-thirsty rigs, GM has little choice but to think of alternatives. A unibody Tahoe or Escalade wouldn't be able to tow quite like its predecessor, but they would be lighter and have better fuel economy.
Our first thought was that GM already has eight-passenger unibody CUVs like the Enclave, Acadia, Outlook and upcoming Traverse, but without more utilitarian SUVs like the Tahoe, there should be room for a more purpose-built CUV in the lineup. While this news isn't exactly earth-shattering, we're thinking it very accurately illustrates just how fast these times they are-a-changing, and how far automakers will go to stay viable. Thanks for the tip, Fro!
[Source: Bloomberg]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Jared @ May 9th 2008 11:10AM
I can't say that I understand the article. The Enclave, Acadia, Outlook CUVs are virtually the same size as a Tahoe. What sense would it make to change the Tahoe to a unibody?
I could understand them killing the Tahoe/Yukon line. But why build two different CUV lines of the same size?
psarhjinian @ May 9th 2008 11:40AM
Because it's GM, and they have 50% of the market. They can easily afford a little duplication of product to keep dealers happy.
Oh, wait...
Unknown @ May 9th 2008 11:57AM
"The Enclave, Acadia, Outlook CUVs are virtually the same size as a Tahoe"
Um... no there not for one thing the Acadia and other gm cuv's are fwd and not rwd like the Tahoe. Most people dont need a big tahoe but there are people out there that will use them and something like a Acadia just wont cut it.
Jared @ May 9th 2008 12:15PM
Unknown, did you actually bother to read the article and my response? Apparently not.
"Um... no there not"
Um...yes they are! The Enclave, Acadia, Outlook are virtually the same size as the Tahoe and Yukon. For example, the Tahoe is 79" wide and 202" long. The GMC Acadia is 78.2" wide and 200.7" long.
If GM changes the Tahoe and Yukon to a unibody as the article suggest that they may, then it won't have the towing capabilities of the current design either. So what extra capability would a unibody Tahoe/Yukon have over a the Acadia/Outlook/Enclave? Both platforms would be unibody. Both platforms would be the same size.
Unknown @ May 9th 2008 12:52PM
Go drive both and then you will know what i mean, there is a big difference between them. (oh and one you can get with a 6.0l v8 and one you can't)
Guenther @ May 9th 2008 1:08PM
What Tahoe or Yukon can you get a 6 Liter in?
Jared @ May 9th 2008 1:59PM
Guenther: 6.2l V8 is optional on the Tahoe LTZ. 6.0l V8 is standard on the Tahoe Hybrid.
Unknown: I think you have a reading comprehension problem.
I CAN'T go drive a unibody Tahoe, and neither can you because it doesn't exist. The comparison is NOT between the current Tahoe and the Acadia/Enclave/Outlook. The comparison is between the proposed unibody replacement for the Tahoe and the current Acadia/Enclave/Outlook.
The Acadia/Enclave/Outlook engine bay is big enough for a V8. So I ask you again, what capability would a UNIBODY Tahoe (not today's body-on-frame Tahoe, but a UNIBODY Tahoe as described in the article) provide that the Acadia/Enclave/Outlook would not? Both would be unibody. Both would have far reduced towing ratings compared with today's body-on-frame Tahoe. Both would have very limited offroad capability.
There is a point to keeping today's body-on-frame Tahoe and the Acadia/Enclave/Outlook platform, since the body-on-frame Tahoe provides some capabilities (towing and modest offroad) that the Acadia/Enclave/Outlook does not have.
But if GM replaces the current Tahoe with a unibody Tahoe as the article suggested, then there is really no difference in capability between the two platforms.
pmalik @ May 9th 2008 11:18AM
What percentage of SUV owners have ever towed anything? For every 1 H2 towing stuff there are 100 sitting at the mall.
Unknown @ May 9th 2008 11:50AM
I just towed a car last weekend, I dont own a Tahoe/Yukon but it would of made life a lot easer,(isuzu trooper ftw) Full size suv's have there place but they need big v8's not someting small like my trooper
henrykrinkle @ May 9th 2008 11:18AM
Just drop the Tahoe/Yukon and apply the names to the Traverse/Acadia. That way you condense four models into two. But since this is GM I'm sure they'll keep all four and add two Pontiac versions so they can cannibalize sales from each other.
Schmeltz @ May 9th 2008 11:24AM
I think the mid sized diesels planned to come out within the next 1-2 years in the 1/2 ton pick-ups and large SUV's may save a number of sales that would be otherwise lost in this segment. GM also is very slowly moving 2-mode hybrids and will continue slowly ramping up speed of these vehicles. The fuel efficiency gains are modest, but could still save a few sales that otherwise may have been on the fence. I think these are more likely scenarios than the automakers completely abandoning this design architecture for lighter and less towing capable platforms as suggested in this article.
TW6Speed @ May 9th 2008 11:30AM
This full size SUV thing never was about pulling anything. It has always been about profit. Out of all the people I know that drives a full size SUV, no one pulls anything; not even a little red wagon.
The Arcadia, Outlook, and Enclave can do the same job, and better if we are talking about comfort. They also cost less....So, bye bye super sized SUV.
John @ May 9th 2008 12:15PM
You're incorrect, they can't all do the same. The Unibody SUV's like Enclave have a towing capacity of 4500 lbs. The frame vehicles like Tahoe can tow 8000+ lbs.
You obviously don't live in a state like Michigan where you see boats, campers, snowmobiles, and all types of trailers towed with these vehicles.
Jason @ May 9th 2008 12:35PM
He obviously doesn't live in a state like Texas either. Nearly everyone I know with either a fullsize SUV or truck bought it for towing, including us.
TW6Speed @ May 9th 2008 1:52PM
John & Jason
Gentlemen, no I do not live in Michigan or Texas, but here in the Chicagoland area, these vehicles are usually not used for towing. I understand the towing capacity difference, but my argument is that most people in my area buy the bigger SUV's for status. These are their everyday daily commuters. The heaviest thing they carry are their lattes.
Dan @ May 9th 2008 2:35PM
That's an important observation.
In Chicagoland - and NYC and DC and LA and SF and so on - where the journalists and politicians and bloggers live, nobody tows. Traffic is so bad you couldn't if you wanted to. DIY doesn't mean a bed full of framing and sheetrock, it means re-wiring your own switch. Box stores have cheap delivery. The roads are plowed and salted by the time you wake up.
So they look across the street and see a line of Explorers and Suburbans that never saw a day's work in their life, and conclude that that's how it must be everywhere so the government should ban the wasteful things.
America doesn't end at the city limits. If you ask me, it starts there.
Disgruntled Goat @ May 9th 2008 3:55PM
I live in Texas and if I had a nickel for every time I saw a full sized SUV tow anything I'd have 5 cents. And these things are EVERYWHERE.
Alex @ May 9th 2008 11:45AM
"A unibody ... Escalade wouldn't be able to tow quite like its predecessor"
Has anyone ever seen an Escalade ever tow anything in the first place?
I can see the loss of the Tahoe being a problem for some. I live out near some horse farms and each one as some sort of large SUV for towing family and horse trailer but they are definitely the minority of purchasers of these beasts. Besides they survived before with out SUVs, i'm sure they can do it again.
Guenther @ May 9th 2008 1:13PM
Saw a first gen Escalade EXT dragging a bobcat down 696 the other day. Probably made good use of that 6L.
pacman @ May 9th 2008 11:50AM
Proof that market driven forces work and we dont need the goverment mandating what one can drive. This is good news. Expensive gas will be the demise of low MPG autos not the goverment or Darryl Hanna guilting the consumer to change purchase decisions based on guilt. Glad to see GM is actually looking at market forces.