Compact sport utility vehicle

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Suzuki Escudo/Vitara 4-door (1998-2005) 99-01 Suzuki Grand Vitara.jpg
Suzuki Escudo/Vitara 4-door (1998–2005)

A compact sport utility vehicle or compact SUV is a class of small sport utility vehicles that is larger than mini SUVs, but smaller than mid-size SUVs. However, there is no official definition of the size or dimensions for this market segment. Moreover, some manufacturers have marketed the same model name on different sized vehicles over time. The most common distinction between versions of crossover automobiles and compact-sized SUVs is that the first is based on a car-based unibody platform, while an SUV uses the unibody with welded-in ladder frame or body-on-frame chassis commonly used on trucks. [1] However, manufacturers and common usage has blurred the two terms. [2] Many recent vehicles labelled as compact SUVs are technically compact crossovers and are built on the platform of a compact/C-segment passenger car, while some models may be based on a mid-size car (D-segment) or a B-segment platform.

Contents

The modern compact SUV market segment began in 1983. [3] According to a Car and Driver review in 2019, the compact crossover and SUV market segment is popular because the vehicles "are right-sized, right-priced, and blend carlike refinement with a touch of utility." [4]

Background

United States

A two-door Chevrolet S-10 Blazer BABY-Blaze.jpg
A two-door Chevrolet S-10 Blazer
A two-door Ford Bronco II Ford Bronco II.jpg
A two-door Ford Bronco II
Jeep Cherokee (XJ), the first purpose-designed unibody compact SUV with 4-doors Jeep Cherokee 2.5 1988 (15289674633) (cropped).jpg
Jeep Cherokee (XJ), the first purpose-designed unibody compact SUV with 4-doors

Small-sized utility-type vehicles have been available since the advent of the first automobiles. The modern use of the "compact sport utility" category can be traced in the United States marketplace to the 1982-1994 Chevrolet S-10 Blazer and the 1984-1990 Ford Bronco II because they are considered compact-sized SUVs that were built on a compact truck chassis. [5] They were marketed alongside the Chevrolet K5 Blazer and Ford Bronco full-size 4x4 vehicles. The compact two-door 1983 Chevrolet S-10 Blazer featured four-wheel drive with a four-cylinder engine as standard and Ford brought out the similar Bronco II model. [6] Both were body-on-frame designs based on each automaker's small pickup trucks, the Chevrolet S-10 and Ford Ranger respectively. [7] The general dimensions, drive train, and cab details were identical to those of the compact truck with differences in the interior only aft of the doors. [8] Both were station wagon-like vehicles with seating for four adults and an enclosed cargo area with a rear hatchback.

American Motors made the full-sized Jeep Wagoneer (SJ) SUV using a truck chassis, but developed a completely new and slim unibody Jeep Cherokee (XJ) line of two- and four-door compact sport wagons that were marketed starting in late 1983. [9] These are often considered the first compact American four-door sport utility vehicles. [10] [11] While the competing SUVs were adaptations of compact pickup trucks, Jeep did not have one, so they designed an SUV first; starting with a four-door version and featuring a very strong, lightweight unibody construction like most passenger cars, as well as with a lightweight "link/coil" suspension design that was praised by the automotive press for its superior ride, performance, and handling. [12] The original Jeep XJ combined a passenger car comfort with a rugged chassis for ease of driving in difficult conditions, and established the modern SUV market segment. Automobile magazine called it a "masterpiece" of automotive design with room for five passengers and their cargo. [13]

According to Bob Lutz, an executive at several car companies, American Motors (AMC) "invented an all-new automotive segment—the compact sport utility vehicle" with the original compact Jeep Cherokee two- and four-door models. [14] The compact Cherokee's design, appearance, and sales popularity spawned imitators as other automakers noticed that the Jeep XJ models began replacing regular cars. [15] Compact SUVs have become an alternative to the minivans for families who need cargo space. [16] While almost unchanged since its introduction, Cherokee XJ production continued through 2005 in China, and was one of the best-selling compact SUVs in the world. [17] There were over 2.8 million Jeep XJs built in the U.S. between 1984 and 2001. [18] According to a 1995 review by the American Automobile Association, AMC's "clever marketing helped create the present demand for compact sport-utility vehicles." [19]

Japan

The Japanese 1988 Suzuki Vitara is also considered to be a compact SUV. [20] [21]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeep</span> American automobile brand

Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with other assets, from their previous owner American Motors Corporation (AMC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minivan</span> Type of van designed for private use

Minivan is a car classification for vehicles designed to transport passengers in the rear seating row(s), with reconfigurable seats in two or three rows. The equivalent classification in Europe is MPV or M-segment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SUV</span> Type of automobile

A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pickup truck</span> Light-duty truck with an enclosed cab and an open cargo area

A pickup truck or pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof. In Australia and New Zealand, both pickups and coupé utilities are called utes, short for utility vehicle. In South Africa, people of all language groups use the term bakkie; a diminutive of Afrikaans: bak, meaning bowl or container.

Governments and private organizations have developed car classification schemes that are used for various purposes including regulation, description, and categorization of cars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Explorer</span> Range of SUVs manufactured by the Ford Motor Company

The Ford Explorer is a range of SUVs manufactured by Ford Motor Company since the 1991 model year. As the first four-door SUV produced by Ford, the Explorer was introduced as a replacement for the two-door Bronco II. Within the current Ford SUV range in North America, the Explorer is slotted between the Ford Edge and Ford Expedition. As with the Ford Ranger, the Explorer derives its name from a trim package previously offered on the Ford F-Series pickup trucks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crossover (automobile)</span> Style of motor vehicle

A crossover, crossover SUV, or crossover utility vehicle (CUV) is a type of automobile with an increased ride height that is built on unibody chassis construction shared with passenger cars, as opposed to traditional sport utility vehicles (SUV), which are built on a body-on-frame chassis construction similar to pickup trucks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Excursion</span> American heavy-duty SUV

The Ford Excursion is a heavy-duty SUV that was sold by Ford from 2000 to 2005. The third SUV derived from the Ford F-Series, the model line was the longest and heaviest SUV ever to enter mass production at the time. Slotted above the Expedition in the Ford model line, the Excursion was sold nearly exclusively in the American market; limited numbers of the model line were produced for export.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeep Liberty</span> Compact SUV

The Jeep Liberty is a four door unibody compact SUV manufactured and marketed by Jeep for model years 2002–2012 over two generations, internally designated the KJ (2002-2007) and KK (2008-2012), respectively. Both generations were marketed globally, including as the Jeep Cherokee outside North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Bronco II</span> Compact sport utility vehicle manufactured by Ford

The Ford Bronco II is a compact sport utility vehicle (SUV) that was manufactured by the American manufacturer Ford. Closely matching the first-generation Ford Bronco in size, the Bronco II was sold for the 1984 to 1990 model years, alongside the third and fourth generations of Ford's full-size Bronco. Derived from the Ford Ranger compact pickup truck, the Bronco II was produced in a single generation as a three-door wagon only, competing against the three-door version of the Jeep Cherokee introduced the same year, and the compact Chevrolet S-10 Blazer and GMC S-15 Jimmy which GM had launched as smaller, similar-named SUVs alongside their full-size Blazer and Jimmy a year prior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Bronco</span> American sport-utility vehicle

The Ford Bronco is a model line of SUVs manufactured and marketed by Ford. The first SUV model developed by the company, five generations of the Bronco were sold from the 1966 to 1996 model years. A sixth generation of the model line was introduced for the 2021 model year. The nameplate has been used on other Ford SUVs, namely the 1984–1990 Bronco II compact SUV and the 2021 Bronco Sport compact crossover.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Body-on-frame</span> Automobile construction method using a separate body on a structural frame

Body-on-frame, also known as ladder frame construction, is a common motor vehicle construction method, whereby a separate body or coach is mounted on a strong and relatively rigid vehicle frame or chassis that carries the powertrain and to which the wheels and their suspension, brakes, and steering are mounted. While this was the original method of building automobiles, body-on-frame construction is now used mainly for pickup trucks, large SUVs, and heavy trucks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panel van</span> Cargo vehicle based on passenger car chassis

A panel van, also known as a blind van, car-derived van or sedan delivery, is a small cargo vehicle with a passenger car chassis, typically with a single front bench seat and no side windows behind the B-pillar. Panel vans are smaller than panel trucks or cargo vans, both of which use body-on-frame truck chassis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeep Cherokee (SJ)</span> Motor vehicle

The SJ series Jeep Cherokee is a full-size SUV that was produced from 1974 through 1983 by Jeep. It was based on the Wagoneer that was originally designed by Brooks Stevens in 1963.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeep Cherokee (XJ)</span> Motor vehicle

The Jeep Cherokee (XJ) is a sport utility vehicle manufactured and marketed across a single generation by Jeep in the United States from 1983 through 2001 — and globally through 2014. It was available in two- or four-door, five-passenger, front-engine, rear- or four-wheel drive configurations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vehicle frame</span> Main supporting structure of a motor vehicle

A vehicle frame, also historically known as its chassis, is the main supporting structure of a motor vehicle to which all other components are attached, comparable to the skeleton of an organism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeep Wagoneer</span> Four-wheel-drive off-road SUV produced by Jeep

The Jeep Wagoneer is a sport utility vehicle (SUV) nameplate of Jeep vehicles, with several models marketed for the 1963 through 1993 model years and again since the 2022 model year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeep Cherokee</span> Line of American vehicles sold by Jeep under various vehicle classes

The Jeep Cherokee is a line of SUVs manufactured and marketed by Jeep over five generations. Originally marketed as a variant of the Jeep Wagoneer, the Cherokee has evolved from a full-size SUV to one of the first compact SUVs and into its current generation as a crossover SUV. Named after the Cherokee tribe of North American Indians, Jeep has used the nameplate in some capacity since 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subcompact crossover SUV</span> Smallest sport utility vehicle vehicle class

Subcompact crossover SUV is an automobile segment used to describe the smallest segment of crossover SUV, a type of sport utility vehicle, below the compact crossover SUV. Subcompact crossover SUVs are usually based on a platform of a subcompact passenger car, although some high-end subcompact crossover models are based on a compact car (C-segment). The segment started to gain traction during early to mid-2010s when the number of models and sales figures rapidly increased in major markets such as North America and Europe. In 2019, around 22 percent of SUV global sales were contributed by subcompact crossovers.

References

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