I will not buy any new radios that do not have SSB, and the only radios that I own at this point in time that do AM only is a old cobra 29.
SSB is much more effective in that you do not have to waste energy in creating a carrier.
A typical 100 watt am station requires 50 watts of power to create the carrier, 25 watts to modulate the upper sideband and 25 watts to modulate the lower side band.
If you eliminate the carrier, and one sideband, a 25 watt SSB signal is as effective as a 100 watt am station signal.
That is a 4 to 1 advantage over SSB, and if you factor in the reduced bandwidth of the RX it is even more.
SSB is the way to go.
73
Jeff