Versatility: How practicality sells.
Fuel Economy: This is one of the most talked about and one of the biggest selling points of some vehicles (more so for Sedans in the past when MPG numbers were significantly better compared to SUVs and Crossovers). What does this have to do with practicality? Simple. Trunk (or “boot”) shape.
Because we’re constantly demanding for higher fuel economy, automakers are resorting to more and more aerodynamic wizardry to give us what we want. One of the ways you achieve this is by going the way of (what some call) the “jellybean” route. Let’s take the Dodge Dart for example.
Truthfully: I don’t know the full reasons why automakers are going this route. I can understand pulling the front end down to decrease the amount of “resistance” towards the incoming air. However, I don’t quite understand why some are making the rear of the car as short as it is. What I do know is by doing this they’re reducing the amount of trunk space in the car. Of course clever packaging matters, yet this still doesn’t help when it comes to getting in all those groceries or your friend’s luggage after a surprise trip to Hawaii they didn’t tell you about. This “jellybean” design that some seem to be making the change to does have an effect on the efficiency on your vehicle. At what cost though? The cost of luggage space.
This is where CUVs have another advantage. With the advancements in active aero and other assorted trickier (underbody cladding being one of them), CUVs are achieving excellent MPG numbers for their size. This is possible whilst not diminishing the cargo capacity of the vehicle. Thus giving the consumer one more thing to contemplate in their decision whether or not they want to get a Sedan or not. Consumers wanted higher MPG numbers and the automakers gave it to them. Yeah, some Sedans do have higher MPG numbers than CUVs. The truth is they’re just not high enough though. Not enough to offset what that MPG cost them in the long run.
As stated before. Now more than ever, CUVs make sense. They’ve become the logical choice in consumers’ minds. You can get a fun, practical, efficient, inexpensive and relatively fast CUV for the price of a Sedan. All those things I just mentioned were things that were once exclusive rights to Sedans. Practicality was a strong suit of the SUVs and larger vehicles yes. However, that was about the only reason you’d get an SUV this side of needing a tall 4×4 to conquer rough weather.
“Oh but when the fuel prices go up, then the market will go back to Sedans!” Honestly, I don’t really think so. CUVs are so efficient that while yes; some will be making the switch. I don’t think it’ll be enough to make Automakers rush to go back to making more Sedans again. I personally think CUVs are good enough these days that they’d still be a fairly popular choice even when the fuel prices inevitably go back up again.
Fuel Economy aside, CUVs are also bigger than Sedans giving designers more freedom to incorporate small, practical cubby holes. This appeals because consumers; messy or not, like the idea of not running out of room to stuff their belongings in. Even if the extra storage room doesn’t always sell one car over another, it’s a nice perk and can be a selling point for some.