The SUV is Dead - Long Live the SUV

Washington DC April 13, 2009; The AIADA newsletter reported that attendees at the New York Auto Show have long declared the SUV dead, charging it as a gas-guzzling, pollutant-spewing darling of suburban and rural America and a passé relic of a bygone era.

However, MSNBC reports that last week's show served as a venue for multiple car manufacturers to show off their latest off-road contenders, and the majority of the new models unveiled at the show's press preview were SUVs or crossovers.

Why?

While these vehicles may have been declared dead in Manhattan, the residents of the Fly-Over states have kept buying them. Included in the array of new car announcements were the Mercedes-Benz ML450, a revised line of Land Rovers, high-performance "M" version of the BMW X6, Mitsubishi Outlander, Subaru Outback, Mazda CX-7, and Mazda CX-9.

If hopeful forecasts for a recovery in the second half of 2009 prove true, manufacturers could be taking orders for more SUVs from other parts of the United States too, but it's a safe bet that very few of them will be from the book editors and fashion photographers of New York.

For a full gallery of SUV models unveiled at the New York auto show, click here.