GM forces SUV 7-passenger buyers to full size only

So, another marketing genius, who can't see the writing on the wall, believes that anyone who is interested in hauling 7 people will certainly step up to the bigger, more gas guzzling model at their local GM dealership.

I suppose not one of them has considered this is just one more buyer who will go over to Toyota and look at the 7 passenger versions of the RAV4, Highlander, and 4Runner.

http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=103755

Here's the full text:

GM to stop building stretched versions of midsize TrailBlazer, Envoy utes
JAMIE LAREAU | Automotive News
RICK KRANZ | Automotive News
Posted Date: 12/12/05
DETROIT -- General Motors will stop building seven-passenger mid-sized SUVs in February.

The TrailBlazer EXT and the GMC Envoy XL are produced at the Oklahoma City plant that GM will shut down the first week of February.

"We're not going to be building them when Oklahoma City closes," GM CEO Rick Wagoner said during a Thursday, Dec. 8, interview.

The standard TrailBlazer and Envoy are five-passenger models that ride on a wheelbase 16.0 inches shorter than the wheelbase of the stretched model.

Only GM's full-sized Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, and the GMC Yukon and Yukon XL, will offer seven- and eight-passenger SUV seating.

Sales of the two long-wheelbase vehicles totaled 85,958 from January through November, down 19.1 percent.

Said Wagoner: "While we sold a reasonable number of those (SUVs), we think we can keep most of those customers in-house with better product offerings" in the future, such as the redesigned Tahoe to be launched early next year.

This is more a result of plant closures than a diabolical or evil intent on the part of GMC....or not;-)

The trailblazer ext that is being canned is actually longer than the Tahoe and is rated 1 mpg better in the city and 2 on the highway. It was in many way overlap with the Tahoe and actually gets 1 mpg worse than the new generation Tahoe coming out.

In a somewhat related issue, Ford recently, and quietly, released news that they would be producing an Expedition that is longer. They're attempting to continue to compete with GM for the customers that still want one of the large SUVs. Since Ford had to kill the Excursion, they had to do something. Neither company can afford to get off of their addiction to large vehicle sales. They can't make money otherwise. On a side note, I saw a Lincoln pickup truck yesterday. I didn't even know that they made a Lincoln pickup. It didn't appear to be tricked out but an authentic Ford vechicle. Maybe its one of those statement vehicles for the guy who wants to project the image that he's not only macho in a useless kind of way but rich.

That would be the Lincoln Blackwood...

All I need is room for the baby seat. It can be right up against the seat in front of it and work fine.

Nate

Actually, they Blackwood was discontinued years ago. There's a new Lincoln pickup out now called the "Mark LT". As I recall, the Blackwood had a hard bed top standard and double Dutch doors instead of a tailgate, while the Mark LT has a normal looking bed and liftgate.

http://www.lincoln.com/marklt/home.asp

aaahhhh I see! Thanks for the clarification. I just thought that it was the Blackwood which continued in its mirrored design of the F150.

Looks like GM is trying to clean house a little bit.

This may be true, but ginormous SUV's have other issues besides the gas... poor handling, difficult to park, more danger to cyclists and pedestrians.

Plus, GM could have engineered a mid size to get better mileage than the big guy, but they didn't.

Given the same power, physics dictates that lighter can always get better mileage than heavier. Whether or not it actually does depends on the engineers (and the drivers).

Nate