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Friday, December 3, 2004
Californians still loving their SUVs
They account for 1 in 8 vehicles in state; growth tops in U.S.
LOS ANGELES -- California's love affair with the SUV has deepened since the early 1990s, with one in eight motorists driving the soccer-mom standby and registrations soaring 250 percent, a U.S. Census Bureau report released yesterday said.
The Golden State led the nation's increase in the number of registered sport utility vehicles, jumping 39 percent between 1997 and 2002 -- from 1.9 million to 2.75 million. And that total is more than double the 771,400 on California's roads in 1992, the report said.
The census reported that there were 24.2 million SUVs across the nation in 2002, a 56 percent increase over 1997.
But the popularity of the gas guzzlers has taken its toll, say environmentalists, who hope the new era of hybrid SUVs will satisfy consumers' desire for big vehicles while being kinder to the planet.
"Our love affair with the SUV has been a setback for energy, security and the environment," said Daniel Hinerfeld, a spokesman for the Natural Resources Defense Council in Los Angeles.
"Skyrocketing gas prices are changing the marketplace. Consumers don't want to spend $60 to fill up their tanks every week and manufacturers have realized an SUV doesn't have to be a gas guzzler.
"If people can satisfy whatever that primal yearning is for the SUV and also get 40 mpg, that's going to be a hot item," Hinerfeld said.
Industry analysts concede that purchases of the bigger SUVs have remained flat since 2000 -- possibly the result of rising gas prices. But new sporty and luxury models have strong appeal, they say, and SUV sales still account for nearly one-third of all new-vehicle purchases in the nation's automotive industry.
The Census Bureau combined the various models of SUVs in its report, which tracked registrations from 1997 to 2002. The agency found that SUV registrations grew 56 percent nationwide during that period, resulting in one in every eight licensed drivers in the United States also having an SUV.
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