High gasoline prices are beginning to push Americans away from the full-size pickups and SUVs that generate the most profits for automakers.

Big pickups like the Chevrolet Silverado are still selling well in the United States, but buyers are gravitating to the smaller versions of such trucks. And sales of hybrid cars and midsize vehicles are growing.

General Motors said Thursday that sales of the Silverado, the company’s flagship truck, were up 3% in the third quarter from a year earlier. But the growth came from a light-duty version of the truck. Sales of heavy-duty Silverados slumped. So did sales of the Suburban, a three-row SUV, contributing to a 6% decline for all GM vehicles. Buyers gravitated to smaller, less expensive models like the Chevrolet Trailblazer and Trax.

The story was similar at Stellantis, the parent company of Ram and Jeep. Sales of light-duty Ram pickups rose 73% while sales of heavy duty trucks fell 6%, the company said. A newly introduced hybrid Jeep Cherokee also sold well.

“Midsize is in, but it doesn’t mean we’re completely losing the full size SUVs,” said Erin Keating, executive analyst at Cox Automotive.

Dealers are moving fewer humongous pickups and selling more fuel-efficient hybrids, which have engines augmented by batteries and electric motors. Cox estimates full-size truck sales fell 2% in the quarter for all brands, and sales of large SUVs fell 6%. Sales of midsize trucks and SUVs grew, according to Cox.

If these trends persist or deepen, it could hurt automakers in the United States, which generally offer fewer hybrids and smaller cars than Asian manufacturers such as Toyota, Hyundai and Honda.

Asian manufacturers appear to be benefiting from current shifts in the market. Nissan said Thursday that sales of the Frontier, a midsize pickup, soared 44% in the quarter.

Increases in gasoline prices have not yet led to a surge in demand for electric vehicles in the United States. Tesla said Friday that its global deliveries fell to 486,500 from July to September compared with 497,000 in the same period last year. Tesla does not report U.S. sales separately.

Hyundai reported a 3% gain in third-quarter sales, fueled by a 39% increase in sales of hybrids. Toyota said sales of hybrids and fully electric vehicles rose 29% in the quarter.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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