How SUVs have ruined motoring | Opinion

This month marks the 30^th anniversary of the global debut of one of the world’s most successful SUVs of all time, the Honda CR-V.

Such a milestone has us thinking about the impact of SUVs generally since 1995, when Australia was a market of sedans, wagons and hatchbacks, peppered by only a smattering of 4WDs and utes.

The Ford Falcon commanded nearly 13 per cent of the entire market with over 81,000 sales, the top non-passenger cars were Toyota’s HiLux one-tonner and LandCruiser 4x4 in seventh and 10^th positions respectively, and the only actual SUV was the pioneering Toyota RAV4, way down at number 43.

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How things have changed, with SUVs sat at seven of the top-10 spots, and then (mostly diesel-powered) ladder-frame-chassis utes making up the difference.

Here are seven reasons why Australia’s (and the world’s) SUV obsession have made motoring worse than in past decades for people who love cars.

The slow demise of the small car

The passenger car(nage) inflicted by SUVs is brutal, as the 1995 vs 2025 (YTD) most popular models clearly indicates.

But while it is understandable why a larger SUV makes sense over a large sedan like a Falcon packaging-wise, there is still a place in the world for a clever, nimble, versatile and efficient small hatchback like a Toyota Corolla or Volkswagen Golf (whose popularity have also plummeted).

Up until a few years ago, the best of the small hatchbacks represented a peak in mainstream motoring. Since then, with consumers migrating en masse to smaller SUVs, the dynamic quality of vehicle has not been sustained, let alone improved upon.

For example, consider that the best-selling small car of September, 2012 was the Mazda 3, compared to last month’s small SUV equivalent, the Chery Tiggo 4. This is not progress.

The end of affordable large rear-drive sedans

This needs no explanation, but here’s a sad recap.

SUVs started gaining sales momentum in 1997, when the CR-V actually arrived in Australia, joining the booming RAV4 and then-new Subaru Forester.

These and scores of copycat alternatives firstly annihilated medium-sized sedans like the Holden Vectra and Mitsubishi Magna, then came after the sacred cows that were our beloved Falcon and Holden Commodore.

Just over 15 years later, in 2013, the end of both Aussie legends were announced, along with Ford and Holden Australian manufacturing, killing the affordable large rear-drive family sedan/wagon forever. A part of this country’s identity and heritage went with that. Thanks, SUVs.

More expensive entry-level cars

SUVs have also destroyed city-car sales worldwide.

In 2012 there were around 25 different choices, ranging from the Ford Fiesta, Honda Jazz and Volkswagen Up from under $20,000, to chic runabouts like the Audi A1 and Renault Clio.

Today, there are just four real cheapies – Kia Picanto, MG 3, Suzuki Swift and the soon-to-disappear Mazda 2 – and a handful of expensive tiddlers, such as the Toyota Yaris hybrid, VW Polo, Mini Cooper and Hyundai i20 N. Petite is boutique nowadays. And endangered, if not quite extinct.

Larger and heavier vehicles clogging our streets

SUVs are inescapably larger and therefore heavier than their passenger-car equivalents, eroding efficiency that is further blunted by inferior aerodynamics.

Yes, modern vehicles are way safer as a result of beefed-up bodies and added extra crash-avoidance tech that have irrefutably saved countless lives.

But the extra mass and bulk of SUVs clog up the streets, damage roads and poses serious hazards to smaller cars and other vulnerable motorists and pedestrians that always come off second-best in a collision with them.

They also are costlier to service because they wear out tyres, brake pads and some other consumables more quickly. And car washes charge extra because of their bigger size.

And the very largest SUVs barely fit in traditional parking spots. Fail.

Never as fun to drive as cars

Take a VW Golf GTI for a spirited drive along a favourite deserted country road.

Then swap out into the closely-related but circa-300kg-heavier VW Tiguan 195TSI R-Line 4Motion with similar powertrain outputs.

Now, which would be more thrilling – the hot-hatch icon, or a very-fast SUV that is carrying nearly half a 1976 Golf GTI of extra mass, as well as about a 40mm-higher centre of gravity?

Or just borrow a 2025 Suzuki Swift against the similarly-priced Haval Jolion and see which is more fun to drive. Pesky physics!

SUVs are helping to hasten the end of manual gearboxes

Every red-blooded keen driver will seethe at the dwindling numbers of three-pedal cars.

If you ignore ultra-niche sporties like Morgan and Caterham, vans, utes and the barely-obtainable LandCruisers 70 Series, there are fewer than 25 separate manual models left. And some, like the Honda Civic Type R and Toyota Supra, are headed for oblivion. Just like the manual gearstick.

And that’s because carmakers are ignoring small cars for SUVs and/or are going down the electrification route that renders them redundant.

Boo!

Facilitated the rise of CVTs and DCTs to offset weight

An unexpected thing happened during the first decade of the SUV sales explosion.

Consumers found that their extra weight and bulk not only made them less interesting and manoeuvrable to drive, but also very nearly as heavy on fuel as a Commodore and Falcon, whilst being considerably less powerful in the process.

Especially the automatic versions with fuel-sapping torque converters that accounted for the overwhelming number of SUVs sold.

This was also a problem for manufacturers who faced a sales backlash in regions like the European Union if their vehicles belched out too much carbon-dioxide pollution.

The solution? Install the infamous continuously variable transmission (CVT) or, in more-premium applications, a dual-clutch transmission such as VW’s DSG.

Along with improved engine and airflow efficiencies, these brought fuel consumption figures down to reasonable levels. But they are not known for their impeccable reliability. And nobody lusts over a CVT when faced with a lonely winding mountain road.

Again, we blame SUVs for such developments.