although there are people who will argue for/against 5-speed being better for offroad, there is no argument what makes a better grocery-getter/mall-cruiser: automatic. and as it seems to be, that's waht alot of suv's and trucks are being used for nowadays. the car companies are building suv's more and more for street comfort (ifs), and more like cars.
look at luxury "suv's". the fact that there's a good market for those overpriced vehicles shows how people don't even want an suv for it's true purpose anymore.
i mean even sports cars come in auto. i'm suprised we even see manual suv's anymore.
i'm quite tired so i hope that made sense...