Is America's love affair with the SUV dead? Not according to some experts in the auto industry who suggest this is more likely a hiatus than a permanent trend. In fact, there is speculations that the emergence of eco-friendly SUVs could spark a revival.

"The SUV is not dead," AFS Trinity CEO Edward W. Furia told a plug-hybrid industry group today, "Its just in rehab, recovering from near fatal oil addiction."

"Despite a 37% decline in SUV sales during the past year," Furia said, "We expect a resurgence in SUV sales once plug-in SUVs with our Extreme Hybrid technology, and possibly plug-in SUVs from other companies, are available for sale. There's a reason why SUVs have been so popular -- they're functional and very versatile. Because of the sheer volume of gasoline now consumed by SUVs, once these vehicles switch from gas hogs and polluters to clean vehicles, they will probably be more popular than ever, and could be even more important than compacts and sedans in reducing oil dependence and greenhouse gases."

Furia added, "After ride-and-drives in our 150 mpg SUV around the U.S. over the past four months, Congressmen, governors, police chiefs, fleet managers and the general public have all expressed surprise and tremendous enthusiasm that clean SUVs can be built and represent a significant market for plug-in hybrids. For families, government and commercial fleets, and the many others who need the additional space and capabilities of an SUV, there is no subcompact substitute," Furia said. "We set out to prove our technology by using an SUV to show that it can be applied to any vehicle. An unexpected byproduct was that we also proved there is a market for plug-in SUVs."

There isn't any doubt that as the cost of oil rises, the appeal of alternatively-powered vehicles increases. Right now hybrids make up such a small percentage of the auto market and aren't widely available, so it's pretty difficult to envision them revolutionizing the industry since that time seems so far in the future. Once more vehicles like AFS Trinity's XH-150 are mass-produced, affordable and accessible to key consumer groups, then maybe the SUV will emerge from rehab and be ready to hit the road again.

» The Auto Channel