Filed under: SUV, Chevrolet, First Drives



Remember the SUV-asaurus? As a character in an ad campaign, it made us chuckle, the general gist being that the huge sport-utility vehicles of years past were hopelessly out of date, falling prey to higher gas prices and a shifting consumer attitude toward more efficient transportation, namely the car-based crossover. While no specific manufacturer was targeted (besides Suzuki, of course, as it was the brand that paid for the ad campaign), there were a few fullsize SUVs clearly wearing crosshairs - most obviously the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban and their corporate Yukon and Yukon XL twins from GMC.

Humorous as it may have been to poke fun at a would-be dodo, it seems the grave meant for the fullsize body-on-frame SUV may have been dug rather prematurely (ironically, the burial plot ended up being for Suzuki itself, at least here in the States). Proof positive can be seen in the 2015 Chevy Tahoe that is the subject of today's feature. It's a completely redesigned machine, and it holds an important place in the automaker's lineup - according to General Motors, fullsize SUVs make up 1.6 percent of the US vehicle market (2.2 percent if you include luxury nameplates), and GM owns a whopping 74 percent of that chunk. Add it all up and that equals 263,948 sales in 2013. What's more, these aren't low-dollar sales, with an average transaction price of $53,000, and they are known to have particularly huge profit margins.

So, we've established that fullsize SUVs aren't yet dead, Chevrolet and GMC are two of the biggest players in the segment and, importantly, that the market is lucrative. It was with these facts in mind that we slid behind the wheel of the 2015 Chevy Tahoe. Just who is it that are buying up these massive utilities, and what are the specific virtues that lead to their continued success? Let's find out.Continue reading 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe

2015 Chevrolet Tahoe originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 13 Mar 2014 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



Permalink | Email this | Comments

More...