This morning, while I was reading latest from the auto world (no, not just the possible merger of GM and Chrylser), I learned that several of the icons of the full-size SUV world, the Dodge Durango, the Chevrolet Tahoe, and the Chevy Suburban, are soon go the way of the Checker Cab.

It's a passage that's worth noting.

Blame it on higher fuel prices this past summer and projections of future high prices to return in the future, blame it on the changes in the credit and leasing market, blame it on declining assets everywhere causing people to reevaluate their need for a multi-ton, steel-framed family vehicle, but the story is now out:  last May, GM pulled the plug on its plans to introduce new versions of the Tahoe, the Suburban, and other large SUVs in 2011 - and the company may not even keep selling those vehicles until then.  

In related recent news, Chrysler announced that the iconic Dodge Durango and its close cousin, the Chrysler Aspen, would be discontinued by the end of the year, even in its hybrid versions.

What's interesting to me is the point raised by the folks at autobloggreen.com:  even hybrid technology can't save these super-sized vehicles in today's rapidly-changing car market.  Sure, if you must drive a Durango, you'll actually save more fuel and carbon by switching to the hybrid version than your neighbor saved by switching from a standard Camry to the hybrid version.  That's because the standard Camry was already quite fuel-efficient and because the standard Durango is, well, an inefficient truck.

But we are now living in a time when Americans are increasingly looking to cut back.  For this moment, it seems that buying a full-sized truck for the once-a-year task of hauling a boat to a lake vacation is just not how most people want to spend their money. 

Sure, there were exceptions.  My 6'7" brother-in-law found his Suburban to be the only vehicle that really fit his frame, and when we had family get-togethers, it was a blast to have all of grown-ups and all of the kids in the same car.  Just last month, we had four adults, four kids, and about a dozen pumpkins in the car after a near-sunset hayride in rural Pennsylvania - the music was blasting, the cousins were laughing, and it was one of those great times that make family visits special.  And, no doubt about it, that 1989 Suburban was the only car that could have handled it.

But for most of us, and for most of the time, smaller vehicles easily fit the bill - and we're all voting now with our wallets in favor of those vehicles. 

Because, as it turns out, you really can fit all the kids and their soccer gear in most of the smaller SUVs and sedans out there.