Vehicles with a larger cargo and passenger seating capacity than hatchbacks and sedans were first derived from military vehicles, and have now grown to carve a niche of their own in the commercial automobile market. The first of these kinds of automobiles were SUVs (Sport/Suburban Utility Vehicle) that saw a great increase in demand in the 80s. But as gas prices all over the world rose and economies dropped in the beginning of the 21st century, the higher fuel requirement made people drift away from SUVs, thus their sales dropped. That is when another class of vehicle – the Crossover Utility Vehicle (CUV) or simply Crossover, started rising in popularity.
You may ask now, should you buy a crossover or an SUV. The choice between the two is largely individual, as their differences, although considerable, are quite subtle.
SUV
An SUV, as Wikipedia puts it, is an automobile based on a station wagon or estate car. SUVs are built like light trucks, which means that they use the body-on-frame design. They combine the towing capacity of pickup trucks with passenger seating capacity of a large sedan. Their body contains cargo barriers to protect passengers from the cargo in case of rapid deceleration.
What separates an SUV from others is their off-roading capability and a higher road clearance. They come equipped with all-wheel drive and offer a higher degree of ruggedness. What puts people off buying them, however, is their high fuel consumption. This disadvantage comes with their huge size as well as weight. Although SUV is a tough vehicle, it’s expensive to maintain. SUVs are also somewhat unstable vehicles owing to their higher centre of gravity.
Crossovers
Crossovers were first introduced when the need was felt for a vehicle that would combine the ruggedness of an SUV with the stylishness of sedan. Crossovers do exactly that. Built on a unibody design like Sedans, they are smaller and lighter than SUVs. Crossovers combine several salient features of sedans and SUVs to be a more multi-purpose vehicle. Like SUVs, they have their pros and cons, depending on the way you choose to look at them.
Crossovers are built on a car platform and are therefore lighter and more compact compared to full-size SUVs. This gives them an edge over SUVs when it comes to fuel economy as well as top speed. However, that comes at a price. Crossovers generally do not have all-wheel-drive (top variants certainly do have) and the superior off-roading capabilities of SUVs. They are normally more stable and faster while being more fuel efficient, thus easier on the pocket than SUVs. Crossovers also come with the added advantage of a smarter size and sportier looks compared to giant intimidating SUVs.
Verdict
There is no specific winner in the comparison between SUVs and Crossovers. Crossovers are essentially for those who would want vehicle structure similar to an SUV but the fuel economy and stylishness of a sedan. They are also ideal for those prepared to forego the additional perks of SUVs, i.e superior off-roading and greater seating and towing capacity. For those of you who are not concerned with the fuel consumption of their car and want their automobile to be dominating and assertive both on the road and off it, SUVs are the way to go.