It's not an SUV, it's a CUV
SUV, SUT, SAV, CUV, CUX, SUX, Crossover, High-Wagon, Tall-wagon, Station-Wagon, 5-Door, Hatch-Back, Nano-Van, Mini-Van, Luxo-barge, Compact, Sedan, Coupe, convertible....
It's bad enough that people have so many automobile choices, the avdrage auto consumer is then inundated with three letter acronyms that many have never even heard of before. Take the SAV, BMW made this one up to market the x5 and x3 not as the American Sport-Utility-Vehicle, but as a German go anywhere "Sport-Activity-Vehicle." what about CUV? A CUV is a "Crossover-Utility-Vehicle" different from a crossover which is more like a 5-door, but not quite a 5-door... Hold on, I forgot what I was talking about.
Oh yeah! That's right, segment names are confusing. So confusing, that even GM is having problems trying to figure out what the Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave (vehicles that share the same platform) should be marketed.
As it stands right now, the segment name for these types of automobiles is "CUV." The problem with the CUV name is that it can mean anything from my Mazda Protege5, to a Ford Freestyle (the Ford being about 3 times larger than my Mazda). Cadillac had changed their marketing for the SRX from a sporty-utility-vehicle (still not an SUV) to a crossover.
So what is GM's new type of vehicle? Nobody knows. GM is not even the only company having this problem. DCX markets the Paficia/R-class as a tall-wagon. Which is still different from a high-wagon like the which can sometimes be confused with a nano-van, which is like a mini-mini-van. I think.
SO what about the other 3 letter words? Well an SUT is something Hummer made up for the H2 and H3 with a very small pickup truck like bed. What about the CUX and SUX, well right now either of these are being used, but they are meant to describe the 4 wheel drive on a crossover-ute and a sport-ute. Similar to the "x" badge on BMWs (ex, 330xi).
Another problem is that some vehicle types, like the Station-Wagon, don't mean the same thing anymore. Dodge, for example, does not call their Magnum a "Station-Wagon." Most sales personal like to call it a "performance-Wagon." Mostly because you can burn more rubber than a Lamborghini. But you and I both know this thing is no better than your daddy's Vista-cruiser from 1973.
So why did things become so complex? That's another question for the monks of Tibet. If I where to venture a guess, it would have to be because full line manufactures are designing vehicles that cross over (no pun intended), tradional vehicle types.
It's bad enough that people have so many automobile choices, the avdrage auto consumer is then inundated with three letter acronyms that many have never even heard of before. Take the SAV, BMW made this one up to market the x5 and x3 not as the American Sport-Utility-Vehicle, but as a German go anywhere "Sport-Activity-Vehicle." what about CUV? A CUV is a "Crossover-Utility-Vehicle" different from a crossover which is more like a 5-door, but not quite a 5-door... Hold on, I forgot what I was talking about.
Oh yeah! That's right, segment names are confusing. So confusing, that even GM is having problems trying to figure out what the Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave (vehicles that share the same platform) should be marketed.
As it stands right now, the segment name for these types of automobiles is "CUV." The problem with the CUV name is that it can mean anything from my Mazda Protege5, to a Ford Freestyle (the Ford being about 3 times larger than my Mazda). Cadillac had changed their marketing for the SRX from a sporty-utility-vehicle (still not an SUV) to a crossover.
So what is GM's new type of vehicle? Nobody knows. GM is not even the only company having this problem. DCX markets the Paficia/R-class as a tall-wagon. Which is still different from a high-wagon like the which can sometimes be confused with a nano-van, which is like a mini-mini-van. I think.
SO what about the other 3 letter words? Well an SUT is something Hummer made up for the H2 and H3 with a very small pickup truck like bed. What about the CUX and SUX, well right now either of these are being used, but they are meant to describe the 4 wheel drive on a crossover-ute and a sport-ute. Similar to the "x" badge on BMWs (ex, 330xi).
Another problem is that some vehicle types, like the Station-Wagon, don't mean the same thing anymore. Dodge, for example, does not call their Magnum a "Station-Wagon." Most sales personal like to call it a "performance-Wagon." Mostly because you can burn more rubber than a Lamborghini. But you and I both know this thing is no better than your daddy's Vista-cruiser from 1973.
So why did things become so complex? That's another question for the monks of Tibet. If I where to venture a guess, it would have to be because full line manufactures are designing vehicles that cross over (no pun intended), tradional vehicle types.
posted by B.G.blogs at 8:50 PM
51 comments
