Consumers said deserting SUVs in droves

DETROIT, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- The high cost of gas and changing tastes have turned American consumers off the once-hot sport-utility vehicles, a report says.

SUV sales quadrupled in the 1990s and made big bucks for Detroit's automakers. But, now it's a different story and consumers are turned off, the result of high gasoline prices, the Detroit News reports.

For example, sales of new mid-size and large SUVs are reported down 19 percent this year, smacking just about all levels of the business.

Taking the biggest hit are the large SUVs, with Ford reporting a drop of 26 percent.

Demand, Ford market analyst George Pipas says, "is just not there."

General Motors halted production on its biggest SUV, the Hummer H1, and saw sales of its older mid-size SUVs fall 22 percent.