They want to kill the SUV, but they won’t get it. The industry itself is to blame

Floats in the environment some signs that point to the fact that the SUV sales they could forward. Because the formula that has conquered millions and millions of drivers in the world could be showing signs of exhaustion. I think that, perhaps, the sales of the SUV can be resisted in the next few years, but by no means will it die.

It is something that I have been listening to for a long time and that my colleague Javier Lacort, with his article I bought an SUV five years ago, I will hardly buy another one again He ended up convincing me to get in front of the keyboard and the screen and write a few lines.

The SUV is not dead. And I doubt very much that it will ever be.

“The formula is exhausted”

It is something that motor journalists have heard in recent months. The greatest exponent has been, without a doubt, Peugeot. The French have brandished this idea to present their Peugeot 408, what they call fastback. In his presentations, it has been reiterated that “the SUV formula is exhausted.”

The Frenchmen have flagged to be anticipating the changes that come in the future. Strategy isn’t unique to you within Stellantis, either. A look at the Citroën ë-C4 and C5 X underline the brand’s intentions. Despite this, the bodywork fastback it has not been exactly what Peugeot and Citroën offer either, used to define like a five-door coupe and not so much like a car halfway between the SUV and the saloon. Despite everything, for a long time in the motor sector, the terms flow and the lines and margins are blurred.

My perception is that, rather, these new bodies are not so much a response to the SUV as a direct consequence of the SUV. For years, manufacturers have been launching models on the market that tried to resemble this aesthetic. Basically because the image of a tall, powerful vehicle with very forceful shapes was liked. And they liked it so much that they have even disguised sedans and compact cars to make them look like what they are not.

Porsche not only took a risk with the Taycan, it also put all the meat on the grill with the Taycan Cross Turismo. Less risky has been, for example, what Kia has played with its Kia XCeed, Dacia with its Sandero Stepway or, even, Seat with the Cupra Formentor, a car that measures the same height as the Seat León (except for the roof bars).

In other words, brands have taken steps to offer a aesthetics they knew they liked to some cars that did not meet the technical requirements to be called SUV. However, by raising the height of the hood, strengthening its lines and changing the wheel arches to plastics of a different color, they achieved the tastes of the public with very little effort.

If we were to use the metaphor of a coin, the SUV would be one side and the sedan another. Peugeot or Citroën have decided to stay in the middle but it seems clear that when a trend is exhausted, it is usual to go to the other extreme. The French have decided to try to take advantage of the best of the sedans with the aesthetics that they like so much. And it seems perfect to me, but anticipating the death of the SUV seems too artificial an announcement.

They came to stay

Simply because the public likes the SUV. My colleague Javier Lacort maintained in his article that, five years later, he believes that his car would have a better behavior if it were a sedan or a compact. And that, in addition, it would spend less.

And I don’t doubt it. What I do doubt is that the rest of the buyers would follow his example. If something emerges from my partner’s texts, it is that he is a very rational person and that he bases his decisions on his head, far above his heart. And a car still has a lot of the second.

He is right, the usual thing is that sister cars, a saloon or a compact moves better than an SUV but the truth is that the manufacturers have refined so much the formula that these cars have ceased to be the “boats” that they once were. And, furthermore, most of the public still prefers to err on the side of a certain agility when cornering if in return they can get on and off better in a car.

When I talk about the fact that the car continues to be chosen with a certain point of irrationality, I’m not talking about the client being in love with driving or the general interest in the motor world. That seems to have died. But, deep down, a car is seen as a purchase over many years and, there, few people I know who do not put aesthetics and their irrational tastes above what is rational.

Because if it hadn’t been like that, SUVs would never have succeeded. They are heavier cars, which use more fuel and, although it may not seem like it, may be more unsafe for those who travel within and with those who cross paths, especially if they are bicyclists or pedestrians.

And, despite everything, my partner’s text sentenced all his doubts and concerns from the first paragraph: “if a Volvo XC90 fit into my budget, surely this article would never have seen the light of day and I would happily drive my seven-seater tank”.

they are not going to kill him

Much has been written about the electric car and the sedan. Of course, I believe that this bodywork has a new opportunity to increase its market now that consumption and autonomy are final for electric cars. I have written about it myself.

An electric sedan has everything that suits an electric car: less aerodynamic coefficient, less frontal surface area, less consumption, a lower center of gravity… But, the truth is that if a car is succeeding, it is the Tesla Model Y, despite the fact that the Tesla Model 3 is cheaper and offers better figures.

It must be borne in mind that, over the years, cars have become significantly more expensive. The access vehicles are, each time, of less access for the population and the median age of buyer has grown consequently. The older the average age, the more common it is to buy an SUV, for comfort and for image.

The SUV aesthetic has also helped sell vehicles at a premium. If you like it, the customer doesn’t mind paying “a little more.” And, the more expensive the car is, that little more is usually less of a problem because there is more financial support behind it. It is no coincidence that when it comes to starting to sell electric cars (much less economically profitable) most brands have opted to start with an SUV, easier to place on the market and which were also favored by emission regulations.

For aesthetics, it has also helped to rejuvenate the line of the most expensive products. Until a few years ago, the highest priced sedans also offered a more serious and “stately” image that not everyone was willing to assume. I am sure that BMW’s internal documents, for example, suggest that the old fork of potential customers for an X5 is much higher than a 5 Series or a 7 Series.

And if the manufacturers premium they bet on this bodywork because it is easier to sell, it is difficult for generalists, with less margin to risk, to start doing “something new”. In the end, firms like BMW, Audi or Mercedes set trends with their products and their position as aspirational companies influences the decisions made by customers of generalist manufacturers, opting for cars that resemble the top of the range of the former.

As I was saying, the car is still largely a irrational purchase. The fact that there are hardly any radical and purely sports cars left does not mean that buying a car continues to arouse passions. Maybe now the shot is focused on the screens or multimedia elements, but this only means that the purchase of a car has changed only in part.

If we add variables: tastes, age of the buyers, trend of the firms considered leading… it is possible that the sedan will have a rebound in the future but, of course, it seems that most drivers will continue to get out of an SUV .

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Photos | Peugeot and Porsche