By Kathleen Murphy
Stateline.org
Despite environmental and safety concerns swirling around
sport utility vehicles, SUVs are increasingly popular with
Indiana drivers. But California is still tops in the number
of Hummers, Ford Explorers, Lincoln Navigators and other off-road-capable
vehicles.
Indiana doubled its registrations of SUVs between 1997 and
2002, according to a U.S. Census report released April 26.
Wisconsin and Rhode Island also registered a high rate of
SUVs in 2002, the most recent data available.
About 2.2 million private and commercial trucks were registered
in Indiana in 2002. Wisconsin registered 1.9 million SUVs,
and Rhode Island had 216,700.
California, where SUV owner Arnold Schwarzenegger is governor,
has the most SUV owners in the country with more than 3.5
million, according to the Sport Utility Vehicle Owners of
America (SUVOA). About 24 million people own SUVs in the United
States, SUVOA said.
Luring buyers for bigger vehicles, auto dealers have touted
a small-business tax benefit in the $350 billion tax cut that
President Bush signed in 2003. The loophole increased from
$25,000 to $100,000 the amount small firms could write off
annually for investments in machinery and big-ticket items.
The April 26 Census data were a preview of a forthcoming
report. A state-by-state Census report on SUV registrations
will be released in October, and other states data will
be posted on the Internet over the next several months.