Have you noticed a decrease in Large/Luxury SUVs?
 

I've been to a few different locations outside of my home location (PHL) recently, and it seemed to me that there is a marked decrease in the amount of Tahoes, Yukons, and Escalades. As one who primarily rents the larger GM vehicles, I've been very disappointed with the selection in this class.

Has anyone else noticed this? Is there a recall out there that might be causing this? Or, is EMI not ordering GM the way Vanguard did?

My guess: few(er) renters choose a large SUV (e.g. Truck-based Tahoes or Yukons) when gas prices are high, so the fleet is adjusted accordingly. There are also large (7-pass) cross-over substitutes (e.g. Enclave, new Explorer) that are also filling that segment.

In other threads, it sounds like they can't even give Tahoes away (sometimes) on ES or EA because some folks don't want to drive such a large vehicle or pay at the pump for one, even if it would be a mega-upgrade.

I still see a few Tahoes and Yukons, but not as many as before. However, I don't miss 'em, and as qs933, you can probably get a CUV-based equivalent or near equivalent.

I'm pretty sure the large fleet of those vehicles was largely due to manufacturer overcapacity, not customer preference. GM had way more full-size SUVs than it could sell; as a result, rental companies got great deals on them.

Today, they've reduced factory capacity, and a lot less full-size SUVs are on the market (notably, the Explorer has been downsized), so there probably aren't nearly as many extras. So the rental companies probably are finding the better deals elsewhere.

I haven't seen as many of them also at the airports I frequent most (CLT and ATL). I have been seeing a lot more Explorers and Durangos. I went to a small airport (CAE) on Friday though and they had about ten large SUVs including a Lincoln Navigator that I scored this past weekend.

Don't agree with that as the Arlington plant is still running at capacity.

I don't know the specifics of the cars produced at the Arlington factory, but I can definitely attest that dtremit is correct on a big-picture, industry-wide scale.

It's not just affecting SUVs, too. This is why the average rental fleet age and mileage has been creeping up over the last year or so as well as why fleets have downsized, rental availability has tightened, and rates have climbed.

Arlington is the only GM factory that still manufactures full size SUVs, i.e. Tahoes, Suburbans, Yukons and Escalades.

One can argue whether a Cadillac Ecsalade EXT is a truck or an SUV, but it's definitely an Escalade, and the 2011 models are made in Silao, Mexico - as is its platform mate Chevy Avalanche. The country of manufacture is embedded in the VIN.

I believe it is classed as a truck and not an SUV. From the 5-26-11 Star-Telegram: "The Arlington plant, which has been producing vehicles since 1954, is now the only one producing GM's six large SUV models sold under the Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC brands."

Arlington is the only plant producing GMT900 models today, but Janesville was producing them until it was idled. That's where the capacity decrease comes from.