DETROIT,
May 20 - To believe the
commercials, sport
utility vehicles can
climb the most
indomitable mountain,
ford any stream and haul
around the kids to boot.
But
gas prices are a more
unconquerable force of
nature. With higher
prices at the pump
sinking in as something
more than a blip on the
radar, and with several
new passenger car models
winning back customers,
America's love affair
with S.U.V.'s is taking
a breather.
For
the first time in 14
years, the passenger car
is actually taking sales
back at the expense of
S.U.V.'s and other
trucks, according to an
analysis of auto sales
data. The renewed
interest in cars over
the first four months of
the year, while modest,
is a pause in what has
been the trend in auto
sales for the last
decade and a half: the
soaring growth of the
sport utility vehicle as
America's preferred
family vehicle.
Sales
of medium and large
sport utility vehicles -
like the Ford Explorer
and Chevrolet Suburban -
have stalled, and the
torrid sales growth of
large pickups has
cooled.
While
much of the slack is
being taken up by
smaller and less bulky
S.U.V.'s known as
crossovers, overall
sales of S.U.V.'s are
down 1.7 percent while
passenger car sales are
up 3.1 percent,
according to Wards
Automotive, which tracks
auto sales.
"I
just bought a Ford
pickup truck and I wish
I wouldn't have bought
the darn thing,"
said Mark House, 45, who
was shopping Friday at a
Toyota dealership in the
Toledo, Ohio, area with
his daughter, Monika,
19, who said she wanted
a car so she could keep
the cost of fill-ups
down.
"If
gas prices were cheaper,
then I'd look into an
S.U.V.," she said.
"It's the
gas."
Mr.
House, who owns and
manages rental
properties, said of his
truck, "It's $60 to
fill it up, and I don't
even want to drive it
anymore."
But
John Wodarski, a manager
at the dealership who
has sold cars for 23
years, said talk about
gas prices did not
always translate into
action.
"People
rank it up there as one
of their biggest
concerns, just like
losing weight," he
said, "but no one
ever does anything about
it."
Weakness
in big trucks is bad
news for General Motors
and Ford Motor, because
they largely rely on big
S.U.V.'s and pickup
trucks for profits.
Asian automakers like
Toyota have had a
stronger position in
sales of cars and
crossover vehicles.
G.M.
executives say large
S.U.V. sales, which are
down 15 percent this
year industrywide, are
weak not because of gas
prices but because
G.M.'s models are
nearing the end of a
product cycle. G.M. will
introduce redesigned
versions of large
S.U.V.'s like the Chevy
Suburban and Cadillac
Escalade next year. Ford
executives, by contrast,
have cited gas prices as
a major factor in their
diminished earnings
projections. Phil
Martens, Ford's vice
president for product
creation, said recently
that "fuel economy
has gone from not being
in the top 10,"
among buyer concerns,
"to being in the
top 5."
Some
analysts see a parade of
newer car models as the
predominant factor.
"Gas
prices are having a much
more minor effect than
they did in the
80's," said Tom
Libby, the senior
director of industry
analysis at the Power
information network, a
unit of the research and
consulting firm J. D.
Power & Associates.
In fact, gas prices,
adjusted for inflation,
are not nearly as high
as they were in the
early 1980's. Mr. Libby
said a wave of new
midsize luxury cars from
brands like Acura,
Lexus, BMW and Infiniti
were increasing car
sales.
Hot
sales of hybrid electric
cars, like the Toyota
Prius, have also helped,
though Toyota's Lexus
division and Ford are
now also offering hybrid
S.U.V.'s. Detroit's
recent emphasis on
making more credible
passenger cars has been
a major factor. Two
notable cars with strong
sales have been Ford's
redesigned, Mustang and
DaimlerChrysler's
Chrysler 300 sedan.
"I
never wanted a car
before - never,"
said Tamika Cooks, a
science teacher at
Bellaire High School in
Houston, in an interview
Friday as she was
signing the paperwork
for her Chrysler 300C.
"But this car has
captured my attention.
It speaks to me. It
calls my name."
Burly
and sleek, the 300C has
won diverse appeal and
convinced many that
Detroit can make
compelling cars if it is
motivated; the rapper
Snoop Dogg drives a
black 300C. Ms. Cooks
preferred satin jade.
"It's
soft, it's feminine,
it's classy," she
said. "When you see
it passing by, you have
to stop and look."
For
Ms. Cooks, gas prices,
which are $2.09 a gallon
for regular at a Shell
station nearby, were not
part of her decision,
and she said she came
close to buying a Lexus
S.U.V. The 300C,
equipped with a gas
guzzling Hemi engine, is
hardly akin to a Toyota
Prius.
"Gas
prices worry me with any
vehicle," she said.
"One day they're
up, the next day they're
slightly down."
Cars
now account for 46.3
percent of the nation's
vehicle market, up from
45.4 percent in the
first four months of
2004, according to
Ward's. Before this
year, cars had been in
decline every year since
1991, when they
accounted for 67.4
percent of the market.
In 1980, cars made up
about four-fifths of
sales. The growth of
light trucks, a
regulatory category that
includes minivans,
S.U.V.'s and pickup
trucks, has had broad
effects on the nation's
oil consumption. The
fuel economy of the
average new vehicle sold
fell to 20.7 miles a
gallon in 2003 models
from 22.1 miles a gallon
in 1988 models.
Regulations permit light
trucks to consume
significantly more gas
than cars; the most
recent Congressional
effort to tighten the
regulatory system was
defeated in the Senate
this week.
Will
the growth of cars be
sustained? Not likely.
Domestic automakers have
laid out production
plans focusing on more
small S.U.V.'s, and
Asian automakers are
increasing their focus
on the pickup truck
market, with Toyota
building a new pickup
truck plant in San
Antonio.
"By
the end of the decade,
sales will be anywhere
from two-thirds to
three-fourths light
trucks," said Haig
Stoddard, the manager of
industry analysis at
Ward's.
Gas
could be an X-factor.
When prices went up in
March, Yves Nau, a
nightclub owner in
Houston, traded in his
GMC Yukon Denali for a
Chrysler 300C sedan.
Between
savings at the gas pump,
lower car payments and
insurance bills, he said
he was saving $700 a
month.
"I
feel like I'm the smart
guy," he said.
"You save money
like that and you can't
ignore it."
Jeremy
Peters, in Toledo, Ohio,
and Wendy Grossman, in
Houston, contributed
reporting for this
article.