SUVs Selling Again

It's amazing how a drop in gas prices will allow car buyers to buy what they really want instead of what they think they have have to buy:

All those folks who unloaded their sport-utility vehicles when gasoline shot past $4 a gallon this summer might be developing a case of seller's remorse.

Americans love their wheels. The bigger the better, if the past is any guide. The ideals of personal freedom and mobility embodied in the automobile haven't changed in the least.

So, no surprise, with gas prices down around $2 again, the much-maligned SUV is making something of a comeback.

Car sales on the whole remain a bust, and this comeback barely lives up to the name, considering the bleak conditions overall. Yet the General Motors assembly plant making Yukons, Tahoes and Escalades has put its workers on overtime. And dealers from Texas to Montana report that the big vehicles clogging up their lots for months like so much radioactive waste have started moving again, albeit at slashed prices.

During this weekend's trip we made our usual stop in Westley, CA, where we usually make our second gas stop on the way north. On Saturday we bought regular unleaded for only $1.959 a gallon, the lowest I've seen in years. On Monday we stopped there again on the way home and the price had dropped to $1.889. A fill-up that would have cost over $40 in July cost only $18 this trip.

I'll be going through that same stop again on Wednesday and Saturday. I'm curious to see what the prices will be during the holiday period.

In other car news, General Motors is dropping a high profile spokesman:

Woods, a global icon in sports with his 14 major championships, has been carrying the Buick logo on his golf bag for the last nine years and still had one year left on his contract.

But General Motors Corp. was looking to cut costs and hoard cash while trying to survive the worst sales downturn in a quarter-century. And it said Monday the world's No. 1 golfer wanted more time for himself, especially with a second child on the way.

"Timing is everything," said Larry Peck, golf marketing manager for Buick. "We've had such a great partnership with Tiger. It's hard for us to walk away from that. But this frees up time for him. And it sure frees up a lot of money for us."

The endorsement deal, believed to be worth at least $7 million a year, was to expire at the end of 2009.

As a NASCAR fan I can't help but wonder how long until the big automakers start dropping or significantly reducing their sponsorship of teams in the racing series. There's some big bucks going from Detroit and Tokyo to Charlotte and Daytona.