A step: From SUV to crossover?

Time to kill SUVs

The other day I was walking by a large SUV. It had two bucket seats in front and a row of seating in the second row. As I looked at this very large SUV, I thought, a Prius can haul as many people, legally, and the large SUV doesn't offer much more hauling room.

Certainly, if you have to tow something, the large SUV has a huge advantage over the Prius, but, honestly, how many large SUV owners actually ever tow anything? Not many I bet, at least judging by my neighborhood and the freeways I drive.

Ultimately, these large SUVs are simply a waste of space. Now, I'm not arguing that everyone can fit into a Prius, but many large SUVs are simply unnecessary.

Thus, I was happy to learn that crossover sales are up more than 15 percent so far this year, based on the success of vehicles like the Ford Edge, according to MSNBC.

Just converting from a large SUV into a crossover can easily result in a 10 to 20 percent improvement in fuel economy, and if hybrid or clean diesel technology could be added to these crossovers, a 30 - 40 percent improvement in fuel economy could be achieved.

And, inevitably, are SUV drivers really giving up that much?