Local and big city dealerships have seen a decrease in the number of sport utility vehicles moving off the showroom floors with gas prices increasing over the past month.

DeKalb dealers have not been immune to the trend.

“The sales have been worse,” said Tony Hoecherl, salesman for Mike Mooney Chevrolet-Oldsmobile-Cadillac-Geo, Inc., 204 N. Fourth St. “They haven’t been too bad, but everything has kind of slowed down recently.”

Small town trends may not reflect those of a large city such as Chicago, but Hoecherl has noticed a trend in vehicle sales.

“Gas has had some effect on SUV sales,” Hoecherl said. “But pickup truck sales have been very good and they get about the same miles per gallon as SUVs do.”

With SUV sales progressively getting worse, small cars and used cars have been selling more.

“Right now people want used, small cars,” Hoecherl said. “Chevy Cavaliers, Aveos and Cobalts are doing really well right now.”

Hoecherl said most used trucks with the exception of the Chevy Suburban have been doing well.

Maureen Joyce, president and owner of Joyce Ford in Chicago, said sales have slowed in recent months, but does not believe gas prices are solely responsible.

“Our sales have been a bit slower, but sales get slower in October and November,” Joyce said. “The time of the year has something to do with it; people are waiting for new models to come in.”

That is not the only reason SUV sales decrease this time of year.

“Students are going back to school and tuition needs to be paid,” Joyce said.

Just as large Chevy trucks are struggling to get off the lot, so are large Ford trucks.

“The Expedition and Excursion have seen the biggest decrease in sales,” Joyce said. “Since the gas prices went up, the Escape has seen the biggest increase in sales and Mustang sales have been good.”

Jeff Reynolds, an NIU economics faculty instructor, said he thinks the decrease in SUV sales is a long-term trend.

“People that purchased large vehicles were looking at storage as the reason they bought it,” Reynolds said. “Before oil prices went up, people weren’t looking at gas prices as a significant cost.”

Now that high gas prices have become an issue, concerned consumers have been looking for alternative vehicles that deliver some of the same perks as SUVs.

“Now people are trying to seek out the vehicles with the best mpg that have similar space to SUVs,” Reynolds said.