SUV sales plummet as gas costs rise (Canada)

Even in these days of climbing gas costs, eastern Ontarians are still buying bigger vehicles for a variety of reasons; sometimes out of necessity they say, but there’s an undercurrent of guilt.

Cornwall Auto Sales’ Mike Benoit said locals tend to purchase sport utility vehicles (SUV) nowadays for substance more than style.

“People buy SUVs because of need, to pull a trailer,” Benoit said. “They bought them for style before; (but also) more for the image of them.”

People with children favour mini-vans or cross-overs now, according to Benoit, or what Shawn Maloney, owner of Miller Hughes Ford, calls CUVs (crossover utility vehicles), a scaled back version of an SUV that combines the ride of a car with the storage abilities of an SUV and better fuel economy.

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