The Death of the Sport Utility Vehicle

With gasoline prices past $ 4.00 throughout the nation for the most part and $ 5.00 per gallon fuel on the very near horizon for many -- perhaps as soon as late August --, the end of the gluttonous era of the sport utility vehicle automobile has arrived. This is not the first time a line of motor vehicles will disappear from the marketplace. In the past, such vehicle lines as muscle cars, convertibles, station wagons, and big long luxury sedans have all come and gone. The smaller fuel economical motor vehicle made its debut in the early 1960s with the Chevy Corvair, Ford Fairlane, and VW Bug, and this line continues and will continue to for imperpetuity seemingly. The only way there will be a return to large and powerful vehicles is if another fuel source is incorporated into the design and operation of such vehicles, a source that is highly inexpensive, economical, environmentally responsible, and with the ease of use and location such as what gasoline has had for over three-quarters of a century.
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http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_9739187
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