With high gas prices eating into American family budgets, previous consumers of light-duty pickups and SUVs have made the switch to crossover utility vehicles to fulfill their needs. Light-truck sales, which include light-duty pickups, SUVs, and crossover utility vehicles (CUVs), for the first two quarters of 2008 have shown a general decline in sales compared with the same period last year, with a drop of 17.7%. Pickup sales are down 23.3% SUVs down 32.5%, and CUVs 1.7%. The seven crossovers with increased sales are in the table below, and include CUVs such as the Ford Edge, Jeep Patriot, and Chevrolet HHR.
The relatively miniscule drop for CUVs is explained by Ty Michael, SEMA's market research manager: "As the U.S economy experiences a downturn due, in part, to high gas prices, consumers have began to shift their vehicle buying preferences. While drivers still seek the family hauling capabilities and utility that pickups and SUVs offer, they now find similar attributes in crossover utility vehicles (CUVs), which also offer improved fuel economy and handling compared with their body-on-frame counterparts."
While the seven crossovers had sales pick up in the first half of 2008, only the Isuzu i-Series pickup and Chrysler Aspen SUV experienced increase sales for their respective classes.
| CUV Sales - Models That Grew in Sales |
| Make/Model | January - June | Percent Change |
| 2008 | 2007 |
| Chevrolet HHR | 50,818 | 46,353 | 9.6% |
| Jeep Patriot | 36,684 | 14,969 | 145.1% |
| Ford Edge | 68,727 | 58,783 | 16.9% |
| Chevrolet Equinox | 42,101 | 41,683 | 1.0% |
| GMC Acadia | 38,269 | 35,270 | 8.5% |
| Buick Enclave | 21,757 | 5,564 | 291.0% |
| Suzuki XL-7 | 17,077 | 13,077 | 30.6% |
| Mazda CX-9 | 13,223 | 9,317 | 41.9% |
| Source: SEMA |
Source: SEMA eNews