U.S. roads, representing approximately 35% of the vehicles on the road. Car manufacturers were keen to promote SUV sales over other types of cars due to higher profits in the segment. An SUV could be sold with a profit margin of or more ( per SUV in the case of the Ford Excursion), while compact cars were often sold at a loss of a few hundred dollars per car. As a result, several manufacturing plants were converted from car production to SUV production (such as the General Motors plant in Arlington, Texas in 1996), and many long-running U.S. sedan models were discontinued. From the mid-2000s until 2010, U.S. sales of SUVs and other light trucks experienced a dip due to increasing fuel prices and then a declining economy. From 2008 until 2010, General Motors closed four assembly plants that were producing SUVs and trucks. Sales of SUVs and light trucks sales began to recover in 2010, as fuel prices decreased and the North American economy improved. 2010s to 2020s In 2019, the International Energy Agency (IEA) reported that the global number of SUVs and crossovers on the road multiplied by six since 2010—from 35 million to 200 million vehicles, and their market share has grown to 40 percent of worldwide new light-vehicle sales at the end of the decade. By 2013, small and compact SUVs had increased to become the third-largest market segment. Since the early 2000s, new versions have been introduced to appeal to a wider audience, such as crossovers and other small SUVs. Larger SUVs also remained popular, with sales of General Motors' large SUV models increasing significantly in 2013. In 2015, global sales of SUVs overtook the "lower medium car" segment, to become the largest market segment, accounting for 22.9% of "light vehicle" sales in 2015. The following year, worldwide SUV sales experienced further growth of 22%. The world's fastest-growing SUV markets in 2014–2015 were: China (+47.9%), Italy (+48.6%), Spain (+42%), Portugal (+54.8 %), and Thailand (+56.4%). The SUV segment further grew to 26% of the global passenger car market in 2016, then to 36.8% of the market in Q1–Q3 of 2017. In the U.S. at the end of 2016, sales of SUVs and light-duty trucks had surpassed traditional car sales for the year by over 3 million units. Manufacturers continued to phase out the production of sedan models, replacing them with new models of SUVs. Luxury