It sounds a bit backwards, but GM execs are as pleased as punch that the market for full-size SUVs is dwindling
rapidly at the same time their all-new 2007 Chevy Tahoe has gone on sale.
While nearly every other
manufacturer suffered a decline in
full-size SUV sales during the month of February (Ford alone was off 21.4 percent), Chevy sold 15,431 Tahoes, a
42-percent improvement over last year. That helped GM post a sales decline of only 2.1 percent in the full-size SUV
market, which was by far the best performance of the bunch.
The Tahoe’s upward sales trend in this
shrinking segment translates directly into a bigger share of the full-size SUV market for GM. Despite the shrinkage,
the mega-ute market will not disappear all together, and it looks as if GM is positioning itself to own
whatever’s left in the end.