GM's Big Hybrid SUVs Slow to Take Off

In today's all-we-can-talk
-about-is-the-price-of-gas culture, it's somewhat surprising that GM's new hybrid SUVs aren't selling in large numbers. Well, maybe it's not that surprising. To get the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid's 50% better city fuel economy, buyers have to part with $53,000, which is about $4,000 more than a similarly equipped non-hybrid version.

Most shoppers point to that price tag — and the fact that gas savings aren't that high, going from 13/14 mpg in the city to 20/21 mpg in the city (4WD/2WD). That might be 50% better, but highway mileage remains the same at 20/22 mpg (4WD/2WD). GM also makes a hybrid version of the GMC Yukon. 

According to The New York Times, GM has sold about 1,100 of both SUVs since they went on sale in January. That's well short of the pace predicted by the estimated 12,000 per year sales GM had predicted.

We're a tad surprised at the slow sales, both because the Tahoe overall is an above-average full-size SUV and because the hybrid is better for the environment and can still tow a substantial amount of weight — 6,200 pounds.

Comments

Not surprised at all. This will likely suffer the same fate as the Accord hybrid. People seem to prefer hybrids in compacts, will only tolerate hybrids in mid-sizers, and will not buy hybrids in full-size vehicles.

Yeah, but if you told someone it's just as good as a regular yukon and will make up its costs in under 5 years I think they'll look at it not as a hybrid but as something that is a bonus or acceptable in the full size SUV market.

I just think it might be current climate of people just finding any way to save gas costs, I mean the Tahoe Hybrid gets really good mileage, but even with its mileage rating, with $4 or $5 gas, fill ups will be a pain in the but. My family currently has a Honda Pilot as the family hauler, and we've always intended on replacing with another SUV when it the Pilot started showing its age... but now, we're thinking of just getting a subcompact and letting the RAV4 we own serve as the family hauler, since we've only got 3 three people in this household.

A 3-person household does not even need a Pilot. Even a RAV4 is big. Americans are so used to have oversized vehicles that, god-forbid, they all ride in a Corolla something is just terrible with the world. Renting a bigger vehicle for a road trip or big shopping excursion is much better than owning it, period. Americans need to wake up and realize the "convenience" just isn't worth it.

Unless you tow a boat every weekend or carry 5+ people daily, you really don't need anything larger than a sedan or wagon.

LM,
If you own a boat period you're going to need the towing of an SUV or truck (depending on size). Or if you own horses, or ATVs or snowmobiles etc. Those people exist. Of course they're cutting back too on those things.

But If you have two kids and have to go anywhere you know how quickly they fill up the space of any vehicle with stuff you need. let alone if they're in car seats, need strollers etc. Minivans or crossovers are good alternatives.

The Tahoe hybrid gets roughly the same combined mileage as GM's new 3row crossovers too. And the Honda Odyssey. So as a family vehicle let's not poopoo it so quickly

An awful lot of these ridiculous SUVs were simply bought for image: "I'm tough & I don't drive some wimpy car" or "I have money & like to show the whole world I have it." SUVs are the single most impracticable type of auto ever invented. They're just an image thing.

Nowadays, with the price of gas, the new giant SUV image is: "I'm an idiot who is burning money."

Another fact is that a lot of people were financing these extravagant purchases with second mortgages. Now mortgages are tighter, so the ability to purchase is reduced. On top of that, at least some people have figured out that, if you mortgage your house and can't repay the loan, you lose the house. If you make a car loan and can't repay, you lose the car. It's a lot more comfortable to live in your house, without a car, than it is to live in your car, without a house.

but what did people do before cross-overs and Suvs? as far as i know wagons and vans were the vehicles of choice for millions of american families in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. I was in a family of 5, my dad had a pickup and my mom had a van, we got around just fine. SUVs have their place, but not in such a saturated market.

GM should have found a place for a spare wheel.

GM still has room to raise the bottom, without the $ premium.
A non-hybrid Tahoe & Suburban 1500 can get GM's 6 speed automatic & GM can install variable camshaft timing on the 5.3 DOD V8.

The Honda Odyssey can get exceptional highway mileage 30mpg@70mph (no AC) 25mpg@75 (with AC)

George,
You can't compare an anecdotal mileage to EPA estimates. That's why we stick with EPA only to keep it fair.

As to Mark T, what kind of mileage did those vans of the 1980s get?

Looking up a 1985 G10 Chevy van (kind of like the A Team's GMC) it got between 12/15 mpg and 18/22 mpg depending on engine choice.

Dave, Those numbers are close to what the hybrid suvs get. 20 years later!, and still no significant increase in mileage. the only difference is the ridiculous price tag. you were surprised that these Hybrid suvs arent selling well. i am not. i'm a car buyer for a credit union in NJ, I have a customer base of over 100k members, my department moves about 1500 cars a year, and i'll tell you that none of those cars are tahoe hybrids. The cars that are requested most frequently are the Accord and the Civic. with the CRV coming in after that.

Date T: You said "If you own a boat period you're going to need the towing of an SUV or truck (depending on size). Or if you own horses, or ATVs or snowmobiles etc. Those people exist."

Such buyers are a tiny fraction of SUV buyers. Their number could NEVER support the market for the behemoths.

The thing about hauling all sorts of "stuff" and kids is also largely a myth. The space behind the back seat of most SUVs is quite small compared the their size. An awful large part of the size is taken up by the engine compartment.

Secondly, unless you have some sort of cage, you cannot pile stuff above the top of the back seats. If you do it will come cascading forward in a sudden stop. That's not exactly safe.

Want to haul kids and stuff? Take a look at just about any sedan like a Camry, etc. There's plenty of room for kids and the trunk is huge. Heck, even cars like Corollas and Focus have nice big trunks and will sit 2 kids in the back just fine.. In a pinch you can get a rooftop carrier and use it when needed.

MarkLT,
I'll raise your mileage comment with the added safety equipment and standards now required on modern vehicles. Plus for the past ten years consumers WANTED more power hence 300+ hp in so many V-8 suvs.

Everyone is able to point fingers now only because of $4 gasoline and the very rapid shift in consumer demand. They forget the two decades of high SUV demand. You can't really blame automakers for giving people what they wanted.

You can blame them for not adapting more quickly, not having more flexible production, and having too many of the same type of vehicle in the lineup, but they WANT to sell as many vehicles as popular and the way to do that in the past was to deliver bigger and more powerful versions of everything. Ask any salesman and if they couldn't tell a buyer that this year's new version of the - insert any car name here - didn't have more power than the previous year, the shopper wouldn't be impressed.

The struggle for most of them is a consumer base that has made a 180 in a very short amount of time.

I envision this hybrid drivetrain to be the standard drivetrain in a few short years...new technologies are always pricey at first but trickle down to become requisites of any new car e.g. power steering, power brakes, automatic transmission, air conditioning, power windows, cruise control, anti-lock brakes, airbags, stability control, etc.

I think most people see the highway mileage and dismiss it as not worth the extra cost. What they really need to look at is the city mileage. It's quite amazing that a vehicle this large and heavy is rated at the same mpg as your typical 4-cylinder midsize car! That, from an engineering standpoint is simply incredible!

Hybrids will likely never be "standard equipment" on all cars. Of course you have vehicles like prius and honda's upcoming hybrid where that drivetrain is standard, but for most vehicles it will likely remain optional.

Get a base 4 door pickup and save $20000 and get the same MPG and towing.

The all or nothing at GM has got to go. Not only do you pay a premium for the hybrid, you don't get the rebates and you can't get the base model trim. Their cars are getting too loaded and their option prices are insame. Their option package bundles aren't a good value anymore and are forced on you. A trend that has gotten worse each time they are redesigned.

Get a base 4 door pickup and save $20000 and get the same MPG and towing.

The all or nothing at GM has got to go. Not only do you pay a premium for the hybrid, you don't get the rebates and you can't get the base model trim. Their cars are getting too loaded and their option prices are insame. Their option package bundles aren't a good value anymore and are forced on you. A trend that has gotten worse each time they are redesigned.

dave, touche... just kidding, i understand those comments, however i feel that the people who were parents in the 70s and 80s and grew up in the "muscle car" era were more inclined to value power. the powerplants that used to go in trucks and cars back then were big powerful iron blocks. As a young person born in the 80s, i could care less about power. my issue with big SUVs is that they werent neccessary before. The automakers say they follow the trends but they infact create the trends. they felt the car market was stagnant after the 80s and buzz needed to be created. hence the birth of SUVs, and they only got bigger untill we had the ultimate "small genital compensator" with the Hummer H2. Automakers are indeed changing, and the only reason they are not prepared is because they didnt make the "green" trend happen. it was forced on them, and they still struggle to catch up.

Isn't the reason the Hybrids are only available in high trim levels because the Hybrid technology is actually pretty expensive. If they sold a base model Hybrid they'd lose too much money, so they only offer top-spec models to offset some of the losses they incur with the technology by profiting on the higher margin top-spec models.

TO bring this back to a point made earlier, i agree with the other poster who will debate until i'm blue in the face the need for so much carrying capacity if you only have 2 kids. Babies don't require THAT much stuff unless you are going on a vacation or something. Day to Day drivng surely involves simply diapers, clothing changes etc, plus a stroller. My sis-in-law has a new born and their Grand Prix (i know, suckers...) EASILY swallows all that stuff plus half a trunk full of charcoal, artists materials and general junk.

The Tahoe and its sister hybrids are an excellent choice for families who like the room. Their sales will pick up substantially once the economy does. Once Hollywood is aware of the Escalade Hybrid, Cadillac dealerships won't be able to keep them on their lots. My 2 cents.

Markt,
Well if you remember the SUV craze in the 1990s really began with the Ford Explorer.
The Chevy Suburban and SUVs have been around since the 1960s.

The Explorer really brought the SUV to suburbia proper. I still remember my stepfather getting one and he got the eddie bauer because he felt it had the leather so it was fine for going out to dinner yet he could still throw mulch and home depot stuff in the back when he needed to. That was a huge deal to him then but he tired of the driving experience after the lease was up. However, I still think that initial allure was a huge deal.

That's when the sales explosion happened.

Mart with logic like that every one might as well be in a subcompact (not like that would be a bad thing). Some people actually prefer SUVs and minivans. One lady at my job a few years ago had a midsize sedan (mother of 2 teens). Then she bought a Dodge Grand Caravan because "she needed the space." Then she traded that in for a new 07 Honda Pilot. Now one of her kids is in college and she said she wants to get a CR-V. When looking at her story you'd think she should be getting a honda fit now instead of CR-V, but she said she liked the ride height of an SUV. This story is probably why we also see the massive growth of the Compact CUV market. I'm not saying that this lady made all the right choices or anything (nor do I approve of all of them). I'm just saying there's always gonna be a market for SUV/CUVs (and it likely won't go away [see CR-V sales]).

Why has this devolved into yet another discussion on the social responsibility of purchasing an SUV? Right or wrong, everyone is free to purchase whatever vehicle they want to.

^Amen Keith, but I do think we Americans are taking the whole bigger is better mentality too far (where vehicles are concerned).

Kieth: There is a certain social responsibility with any purchase.

When you buy the gas guzzler you increase demand for oil. Price follows demand. Then the price of all oil goes up. Your 80 year old retiree neighbor then has to pay far more for heating oil, which he may not be able to afford. The lady who works as a waitress, and drives a 10 year old Corolla, night find the extra cost of gas (to get to work) hurts her ability to feed the family, pay the rent, etc.

Same goes for gargantuan houses. Over the last 50 years the average size of a new home has increased about 70%. At the same time, the average number of people per household has gone down - a lot. In fact, there has been a trend for newer retirees building 3000 sq. ft. "dream" homes. Those bigger home require more energy to heat, increasing demand and cost. Meanwhile, Joe Lunch Bucket has a hard time paying for the increased cost of his heating oil, gas, electric, whatever.

People always seek to justify, or rationalize, what they do. "Want" becomes "Need" in their mind. If people get beyond their need to impress others - the main reason for oversized cars and houses, etc. - and think of what they really "need" versus "want", they can see that their buying decisions can actually help (or hurt) others who may not be as fortunate as themselves.

Of course, there's also the fact that all that imported oil comes from countries that are not exactly best buddies with the US and our belief systems. The less we send them, the less they have for things like funding terrorists.

As an added bonus, the person buying the more rational car, gets to save money that would have simply been burned by the SUV engine for handy things like retirement money.

Sam,
I was not questioning social responsibility. My point is that this pseudo-forum of comments has devolved into the same tired discussion.

Keith,
As I've discovered over the years this happens quite a bit in the blog world.

We haven't had a domestic vs. import bashing comment thread in a while though...

Except for the garish decal on the side, the Tahoe Hybrid is an appealing vehicle. GM did its job on the city mileage. If they had been able to coax 25 mpg out of it on the highway, I would bet they couldn't keep them in stock, despite the daunting price.

If your a GM fan you might as well get an Acadia instead of this. You'll save like $20 grand with like the same combined mpg.

If your a GM fan you might as well get an Acadia instead of this. You'll save like $20 grand with like the same combined mpg.

The hybrid Tahoe may only be $4k more than a similarly equipped non-hybrid version, but that's about $15k more than the low end Tahoes. I think you kind of have to suck at math to buy an SUV anyway - which would explain why they're so popular among women :)

People still don't seem to comprehend the idea of a non-green hybrid. I'd like GM to try selling a Hummer H2 hybrid. After all, it is the same platform.

Disappointment comment from Dave. What's wrong with you today?

Okay, people have boats need to tow it, but how many days per year do they need to tow that thing? The rest of the year is just simply wasting gas. If they need such a monster just to tow that boat a few days in the year, what's the point? To a more extreme, they should go for the International NXT or something like that.
Remember, there are company called enterprise, Hertz, etc.

You obviously never owned a boat. You couldn't possibly fathom the difficulty assoiciated with renting a vehicle every time you needed to tow it. Boats often need repairs requiring them to be towed to the repair shop.

Not every owner of a large SUV uses it as their daily driver.

Bowrider, I understand what your saying. But why do these people buy fullsize SUVs?They can get a midsize truck-based SUV, with an up to 10,000 lb towing capacity and still have three rows of seats. It's like when people have a big boat they think they need a big SUV too, when that's not the case. They can get a smaller SUV, seat 8 people, and still have better gas mileage than most full-size SUVs. I know the Acadia won't work for everyone (because it's a crossover), but there are smaller truck-based SUVs out there that can still tow a big boat.

I know some of you might be brand conscious, but great examples of my above point would be the Ford Explorer and Toyota 4Runner. The Explorer tows up to 12,000 lb and cost $26,000; the 4runner gets 21 hwy mpg and cost $28,000. Both have 3 rows of seats. So why does anyone need a 200+ in long fullsize Tahoe?

+1 to Sam.

And to Dave...sorry, but a very small fraction of society really needs all that space and capability to on a regular basis to actually buy something like the Tahoe. Sure it's convenient, but completely unnecessary for 99% of society. If one MUST have the ability to tow something very large or carry lots of crap, then have a pickup and a small sedan would work just fine. SO once in a while you have to take 2 cars on a trip...so what. Unless you do it every weekend or twice a month, it's pretty useless to use something that gets that MPG on a regular basis. Renting is still better, because you dont pay all the additional ownership costs (insurance, repairs, interest and of course, the payment).

Even with 2 kids and a dog, a wagon like yours is suitable as a daily driver. For weekend camping trips - that's what roof racks are for!

"You can't really blame automakers for giving people what they wanted."

Putting aside the legality of the product, I guess we can't blame drug dealers for giving people what they want as well, huh? Yes, I'm being dramatic. But I think that yes, they can be blamed somewhat, regardless of the price of gas, being that oil isn't a renewable resource and is bound to run out some day. Their management hedged their bets that they could create vehicles that waste like fiends and hope the free market figured out fuel efficiency well after then were dead and gone. They're losing their bets, so yes, they can be blamed.

I also don't know why you'd be surprised that more people aren't buying $50,000 vehicles, because I don't know many people who could afford that. But maybe the market for that type of vehicle is larger than I realize.

bowrider,

Not everyone uses their SUV as daily driver, but on the other hand, not every SUV driver uses them to tow boats.