The world’s obsession with SUVs

Karl is okay with the world’s obsession with SUVs – as long as it leads to better sports cars for him to pilot.

High-bodied vehicle. Crossover. Super sports utility. Four-by-Four. No matter what you call them, the world is obsessed with SUVs. To the point where some companies only make SUVs and nothing else.

Just about every car company has one in their range. In fact, you can probably count on one hand the companies that don’t. McLaren, Bugatti, Koenigsegg, and… I’m struggling to come up with many more.

Ferrari has confirmed it’ll be building one in 2019, Lamborghini’s Urus has already hit the showrooms this year and the Rolls-Royce Cullinan will be arriving at the end of 2018. You know that the world has changed when those three companies get on board.

The tipping point came when the Porsche Cayenne hit the road. Porsche took a risk investing in the production of an SUV. The howls of protest from its core customer base was not just vocal but deafening. Cleverly discerning the change in buying trends, the company bravely stuck to its guns and thus staved off an impending financial disaster. Without the profit from the Cayenne, Porsche would have been buried a long time ago. And because the profit has kept rolling in, it has been able to continue with its sports car range, while still financing the development of future supercars.

Everyone watched on in awe. Here was a sports car company making ridiculous amounts of money from not making sports cars. It taught the world that diversity is the lifeblood of the auto industry. But more than that, it taught the automotive world that despite the Cayenne being fitted with low-range and height adjustable suspension, no one takes these things off-road.

A new category was born – the crossover. A wagon that has been lifted enough to give it a sense of off-road ability, but it’s only able to hop a kerb at best. But because the front seats are mounted higher, and there’s a big boot, families everywhere, and specifically women, flooded into showrooms to snap up these practical machines.

But now, it’s got to the ridiculous extent that cars like the Mazda CX-3 are called SUVs. Seriously? A front wheel drive, jacked up Mazda2 is an SUV now?

It’s hard to get enthusiastic as a car person when the industry is being flooded with crossovers of every shape, size and colour. The worst part is that we can rail against this trend, but when the demand is there, that’s the direction in which these manufacturers will head.

Let’s look at the upside. Without the Cayenne, we wouldn’t have the 911 GT2 RS. Without the F-Pace, we wouldn’t have the F-Type SVR. Without the Volvo XC60, we wouldn’t get any more new Lotus sports cars. And without the Lamborghini Urus, there won’t be enough profit to give us a lighter, more hardcore Aventador later on.

If you’re a car person, be grateful for SUVs and crossovers. Sure, the people who buy them may be suckers for doing so, but if they’re happy to spend their money on these machines and are simply keeping up with the Joneses, then let them. It allows us to see and perhaps experience the machines that we love
so much.

You know that obsession we have with real cars? Well, the world’s obsession with SUVs is just as strong. And we’re okay with that.