I know what you mean about people buying SUV's that don't need SUV's .. but manufacturers are changing .. chevy has a hybrid truck that shuts down the eng coasting, and at stops, then starts, (no, not the right word)
runs when you push the gas, good for stop and go driving, like commercial apps because it has normal 300hp eng
The SUV's now have the "displacement on demand" V8 in them, 4 cyl's cruising 8 cyl's when you need it, again with 300hp so you can actually "use" it as truck .. And all this would be worthless if you could tell these gas saving tricks were working, or you had to drive diff. .. you don't, they are seamless and cant tell any of this is going on
It won't stop people that don't need a SUV from buying one, but it helps
I have a 4x4 truck (and use it) , 15mpg , over $100 to fill 34gal tank last time (I figured that I have spent more than $22,000 in gas in it, truck was only $14,000 new in 89 :11: ) ... good thing I live 3 miles from work
..... Oh, and I'm a Chevy mech, cant you tell
... $3.69 here for premium