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SUV Buyer's Guide
Hottest SUVs for 2007
Sport utility vehicles have become the family vehicles of choice for their commodious interiors, flexible cargo capacity and go-anywhere image.
Over the years, automakers have gradually revised their offerings to be more luxurious and highway-friendly. Crossovers — vehicles with car-like underpinnings matched with tall, sleeker SUV bodies — have exploded in popularity. Automakers are replacing some truck-based models with more efficient and comfortable crossovers, such as the Buick Enclave and Lincoln MKX, both new for 2007.
Meanwhile, sales of traditional truck-based SUVs have suffered — especially for the largest models. Over the past couple of years, sales of the big SUVs from Ford and General Motors have plunged by 40 percent or more, signaling a shift in the market.
Interestingly, both Ford and GM chose to release completely redesigned, much-improved versions of their full-size SUVs this model year. GM currently captures about 62 percent of the full-size U.S. SUV market, according to the automaker, so its redesigned Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban and GMC Yukon and are especially important for the company.
Compact SUV sales are becoming especially popular as gas prices rise and more people aren’t automatically equating bigger with better. This year, Acura is introducing a new, smaller, performance-oriented SUV, the RDX, and Land Rover will soon pull the wraps off its new, more car-like LR2.
A trend that’s pervading all vehicle segments, but especially SUVs, is bigger wheels. A few years ago 19-inch diameter wheels were the largest available on most vehicles. Several new SUV models this year have 20-inch rims available and the Cadillac Escalade offers shiny 22-inchers. Cadillac’s engineers had to retune the suspension just to accommodate the flashy wheels.
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