Pontiac G6 concept saloon revealed by GM this week.

America’s love affair with the ‘big truck’ SUV may well be turning onto a minor road, according to thinking in the head offices of that country’s main manufacturers.

They’re putting new emphasis on designing sedans that are attractive and innovative, in a strong attempt to change a perception that only foreign makers can build good and interesting ‘ordinary’ passenger cars.

And when the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry have been the best selling cars in America for many years, alternating for the top spot, it’s a reflection on the declining health of the saloon car in the USA.

That’s also been reflected in the fact that the biggest-selling vehicle in that massive market has regularly been a Ford pickup. And that 70 percent of all Chrysler sales in the US are made up of SUVs, pickups and minivans (MPVs).

None of which do much to improve the average fuel consumption across the domestic manufacturers’ total model range, and that’s beginning to hit home with the EPA and individual states like California squeezing the torque tighter on fuel consumption.

Companies like GM have made billions in profits from the high-markup ‘leisure-style’ vehicles they have pushed onto the market. But in the saloon car sector, Japanese makers can command higher prices than their US equivalents for sedans, and have significantly lower manufacturing costs.

Now GM has punched out an aggressive set of visualisations of cars it intends to produce in upcoming years. Of 13 concepts revealed at the drawing stage, only one is not a passenger sedan. And the company is also refurbishing an old factory in Ohio to produce a new range of small cars, starting towards the end of of 2004.

Ford is also plotting a brand new range, including a new large Ford Five Hundred sedan aimed at regaining a more substantial share of the big sedan market. Chrysler too is moving towards producing a new range of large rear-drive sedans.

The designs produced by GM last week are pitched at making several of its brands - Buick, Pontiac and Chevrolet - sexy. Something they haven’t been since the 60s.

They include the Chevrolet SS Concept (left), a 4-door rear-drive with high performance suspension and brakes, powered by a small-block V8.

The Pontiac G6 is also a 4-door, with all-wheel-drive and a supercharged V6.

Don’t expect the General to totally lose the SUV scene, though. A Buick Centurion is described as a ‘crossover’, while the Chevrolet Cheyenne is a full-size pickup with some practical extra storage ideas. And the Chevrolet Journey designed in Brazil is an AWD with three-row seating that combines the styling of an SUV and a minivan.

The new views of the US ‘Big Three’ make it clear that they intend to continue to design and build for the specific preferences of the North American markets, as the ideas so far produced wouldn’t translate into the more crowded and expensive roads of Europe.

‘Make it American for America’ might well be the slogan in the drive against the import kings of the road. And in post-911, that could work well, if they can build the style to the same or better standards of the Japanese and Koreans whose sedans have invaded US highways for several years without any serious opposition being apparent.

Chevrolet Cheyenne

Chevrolet Journey