That partly explains last week's sell-off in auto stocks and rumblings that next year and 2001 aren't likely to be as profitable as the past few. The pessimists focus on profits and, especially, profit margins. Rising interest rates and higher gas prices increase the monthly cost of buying or leasing a high-profit SUV and, then, make it more costly to run. Doubling what it costs to fill the tank of, say, a Ford Expedition ought to get the attention of most motorists. Anything that persuades would-be SUV buyers to opt for something else threatens to cut Detroit's profit margins.
Fuel prices matter.
Only the wealthiest can afford to drive a Detroit monster for very long, which is why comparatively few do. Light trucks now account for nearly 50 percent of all new vehicles sold in the United States, but Comerica's Littmann predicts cars will regain lost ground in 2000. Detroit's Japanese and German competitors control more of the U.S. market than when the '90s boom began. If fuel prices keep rising, they may get more. The Detroit News We welcome your comments .