Ford's giant Excursion comes to a grinding halt

America's seemingly insatiable appetite for enormous four-wheel-drive cars – an appetite hitherto undaunted by rising oil prices, the war on terrorism or the constant jibes of environmentalists – may finally have reached its limit.

After months of disappointing sales, the most monstrous vehicle of them all, the Ford Excursion, is reportedly being withdrawn from the market.

With seating for an entire high school sports team and luggage space to match, it seems the Excursion is just too big – and too expensive – to survive in today's shaky economic climate. At $45,000 (£28,000), it costs more than some houses. Almost 20ft long and 7ft tall, it takes up two standard parking places and cannot fit in most garages.

"I think the age of dinosaurs is about to end," said Carl Pope, of the environmental lobby the Sierra Club.