[SnS_12]

People prefer the SUV (soft roaders) against sedans because of butch looks and the ground clearance they offer (especially for Indian roads).

If luggage space was an issue then manufacturers would have been selling more estate versions of their sedan models.

[TrackDay]

After a while the whole SUV craze too will die. I guess the reason why the market is tilted towards crossovers or high rise hatchbacks ( I am not going to call Hatchback On Stilts SUVs) is due to how they are more affordable now and seem aspirational. Previously those form factors were out of one's budget. So now they get to realize their dream of owning a SUV.

[Sanidhya mukund]

People often justify buying an SUV over a sedan citing our bad roads. Agreed that image is a massive driving factor, but many people say that bad roads was the primary reason why they did not go for a sedan.
However, I personally feel that a sedan can do just fine, even on our crater ridden roads. I have extensively toured rural UP and Rajasthan in my Mercedes C-Class, and have never suffered any damage with respect to suspension, steering, brakes etc. Of course, if you care about your car, you have to be much slower in a sedan as compared to an SUV, but if we talk about pseudo SUVs, I think they are just as sensitive as a normal sedan. A few extra millimetres of ground clearance don’t really make a difference in the real world.

Here’s an example of the kind of roads my Mercedes has endured. The only other cars I saw there were Sumos, Boleros, Taveras and Scorpios. My car was able to do just as well as those cars, but much slower:

[Kosfactor]

The first 30 seconds of this video is a case for a crossover SUV. Some CSUVs also have the feature to lower itself for easier entry and exit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifoFOXRBiHM

[sid_deb]

Originally Posted by iliketurtles

We saw everything from the Seltos (not safe enough), to the Compass (great, but über pricey), to the Harrier (gorgeous and near perfect, but big question marks over long-term ownership and build quality), and the Creta (too damn ugly), and nothing sat right.

Wise recommendation to go with the City in this price bracket. The only question mark is the long term fate of Honda with sedans dying a slow death particularly with the rise and boom of CSUVs.

Apologies for nitpicking, the Creta is equally unsafe as the Seltos. Not just structurally but also with its majestic "Thor" like brake pedal

[rhsakarp]

Was in the market for an upgrade recently, almost bought the all new City (CVT), loved the car !
The only reason to buy a crossover/pseudo SUV was the amazing roads in Bangalore, the extra ground clearance comes in real handy.

[gatsby_great]

Originally Posted by androdev

Car is not a storage bin. Sedans score better when it comes to safety, speed and NVH.

Sedans will continue to be offered at the premium end of the spectrum.

-storage is one of the prime criteria in selecting a car in low/mid price segment
- which sedan below 10 lacs has better safety rating than altroz/xuv 300? Sedan body type is not a guarantee of safety. I think it is more risky compared to an SUV if the vehicle collides with stationary truck (quite a common cause of accident in India)
-same can be said about nvh, speed etc.
-high end sedan makers have started producing suvs
-SUVs have been gradually working towards reducing body roll
- on Indian roads there is a significant peace of mind associated with the high ground clearance
- on different occasions, I was easily able to fit and transport window AC, Washing machine after folding the rear seats of ecosport. I doubt if that is possible in a sedan.

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by TrackDay

After a while the whole SUV craze too will die. I guess the reason why the market is tilted towards crossovers or high rise hatchbacks..

Unlike the previous SUV booms, guess this one is going to stay longer, even permanent maybe. Sure the popularity will wane in due time, but the ease of usage will make people hold onto crossovers.
One thing is for sure. Sedans, or rather low slung cars will become cool again in the near future. Just like how the stationwagons and minivans started losing their sales in USA 'cuz parents had them, the next generation will definitely see crossovers as uncool. (i.e if they do have some fleeting interest in the automobile)

Originally Posted by Sanidhya mukund

However, I personally feel that a sedan can do just fine, even on our crater ridden roads... in my Mercedes C-Class, and have never suffered any damage with respect to suspension, steering, brakes etc. Of course, if you care about your car, you have to be much slower in a sedan as compared to an SUV, but if we talk about pseudo SUVs, I think they are just as sensitive as a normal sedan. A few extra millimetres of ground clearance don’t really make a difference in the real world.

True. The bad road aspect is an abused excuse. Can understand crossovers like the Duster, Harrier and even Nexon specifically for its jacked up nature. But the vast majority have to be babied just like cars. They cannot pummel down bad roads like proper SUVs do, and most have to be treated just like sedans.

Two ironic situations come to my mind.
One. This write-up by an expat in Riyadh.

. Sometime later, somewhere south of the Wadi Hanifa, I was driving the Laplander with Ben in his Toyota Land Cruiser, when we saw a range of very small dunes maybe only six or eight feet tall. It seemed that if we crossed these dunes we’d be at the mouth of the wadi and be able to drive north. I put the Swedish into 4-wheel drive, low-low and tapped on the gas. With no effort at all the jeep crawled up slip faces and down into the lows before another steep climb. Up and down I drove, over a dozen dunes when I began to believe that I was boldly going forth over terrain never before touched by humanity. A true desert explorer...... when it occurred to me that for sure no one had ever been before. I was passing over untainted ground. Only my off-road driving savvy and a superb desert vehicle had now made it possible for me to be the King of the Wadi. And I began to like the sound of that as it echoed in my head.

There was a bend in the canyon, I rolled 20 yards forward and there it was.

The pride and joy of 1970s Detroit parked beneath an acacia tree on the river bank. Four thousand pounds of American steel packaged in a sleek, slab-like, sheet metal body, trimmed in chrome, with white walled tires and power steering. It was an emerald green, four-door Buick sedan with the trunk open. Surrounded by several small children, a husky man a bare head of hair and a prominent mustache was tending a coffee pot next to a small fire. A woman, probably his wife, ducked behind the sedan.

Humbled once again, I ruefully waved back and rumbled up the canyon thinking about this man who had adroitly maneuvered that heavy, soft-springed, low-riding, two-wheel drive behemoth all the way down this perilous wadi without even scratching his white walls. No wonder that he was practically laughing at me. I started laughing too. I had just met the real King of the Wadi - an enthusiastic Saudi dad determined to throw a terrific picnic for his family in a magical desert canyon.

https://www.aramcoexpats.com/article...g-of-the-wadi/

Second one, this old video of Abu Dhabi. Check the video below from 1:29

https://youtu.be/8KS5cy9eSfU?t=01m28s

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

The first 30 seconds of this video is a case for a crossover SUV. Some CSUVs also have the feature to lower itself for easier entry and exit.

The current gen Lexus LS also has this feature. If my memory is correct, remember seeing 90s American minivans/MPVs that used to lower down when the door was opened.

[ruchiragrawal]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

Attachment 2121902

Attachment 2121901

This post is not the most informative but is just trying to tell how perfect a sedan can be.

Case in point: The absolute unit of a great sedan in the back - the Subaru WRX (probably the STi because of the wing).

It's pretty much all you want from a sedan:

1. High ground clearance - check
2. Strong beefy suspensions for tackling bad road - check
3. Symmetrical AWD for getting out of tough spots - check
4. Good power - check

You can call me biased, however, sedans do tend to offer many things that most consumers would want when they go around looking for an SUV, given that you look at the correct one.

I can already see many young students buying sedans here in the US, because it does what it needs to do - take you places without having to worry about it.

This doesn't mean people prefer sedans over SUVs, all I am trying to say is that
good economy sedans will still be around (unless some company comes up with a really good economy 'SUV').

[IP_Man]

Sadly, FWD hatchbacks on stilt disguised as SUV are taking game from sedans. But, are those pseudo SUV's are really capable doing their duty as SUV? Answer is No.

I recall my trip to North Sikkim. Local administration is reluctant to give permit to FWD small SUV's. Reason we came to know later on when we drove to Gurudongmar lake. Those pseudo SUV's simply not capable of taking that gruesome route. That route is ruled by RWD, BOF diesel full size SUVs. Later, on 'Zero Point' route, I saw Honda WRV attempting the route but failed to clear one of the land slide on the route and had to return back.

In short, raising ground clearance doesn't make hatch, a true SUV.

[kiku007]

Originally Posted by ruchiragrawal

Case in point: The absolute unit of a great sedan in the back - the Subaru WRX (probably the STi because of the wing).

It's pretty much all you want from a sedan:

1. High ground clearance - check
2. Strong beefy suspensions for tackling bad road - check
3. Symmetrical AWD for getting out of tough spots - check
4. Good power - check

You can call me biased, however, sedans do tend to offer many things that most consumers would want when they go around looking for an SUV, given that you look at the correct one.

I can already see many young students buying sedans here in the US, because it does what it needs to do - take you places without having to worry about it.

I hear you since I own one. The key caveat is that you are talking about a ~250-300bhp AWD Sports sedan that costs A$50K+

Loves the race track.


Loves rain.


Loves unpaved back roads.


Loves the company of sports cars that can sprint to a 100 in ~3-6 seconds.


Loves to transport four adults comfortably.

If more people love the above then we'll have more people buying such cars but we know that interest on cars is on the decline. It's a super expensive passion and the newer generations aren't that keen as earlier.

We were in the market a couple of months back for our second car. We checked out crossovers too and we realized that the 5 seater crossovers like the Forester or the CX-5 offered a bit more rear seat width which makes the middle passenger feel more comfortable than the equivalent sedan. The third-row in 7-seater crossovers like the CX-9 were suitable only for kids. We eventually got home the Mazda 3 which is a 180BHP 2500 CC naturally aspirated petrol sedan. It's the top end variant that's loaded with equipment that's on-par with the Mercedes-BMW-Audi. The point being that we were not after space but after equipment. There are others who want the flexibility to carry their biking/surfing gear; couple of more inches for the child seat and the third-row seating. To each his own right?

Do note that even though the Mazda 3 is sedan, it can't do what the WRX can do. So we can't take the WRX as the flag bearer for the sedan cause.

Quite the looker.



People love crossovers for whatever reasons. Some crossovers certainly offer more practicality. Some may make sense and some may not. How the hell do you explain the fact that the Mustang Mach-E crossover has less GC than a Impreza/WRX? But it is what it is. That's why Subaru makes the XV/Crosstrek on the Impreza platform to offer that choice and also make money.

Do I like the trend? No. But I put my money where my mouth is and keep buying sedans.

BTW this thread is about the USA and is in the international automotive scene. I don't think everyone understands the term SUV in India. Please google for Light-trucks USA to understand how big they are. The Ford Ecosport isn't an SUV even if you add the prefix 'Compact' to it.

These are SUVs.

I loved taking this Prado off-road and on the beach. Due to COVID-19, more people want to travel in-land and do things like over-landing, camping, towing caravans/boats/jet-skis and off-roading. SUVs fit perfectly into this lifestyle choice and are selling like hot cakes.




Waiting to drive this one.

[vigneshkumar31]

The seismic shift to SUVs, higher from the ground, is real and has been an exponentially increasing trend over the past few years globally and in India.

From an Indian context, it's many reasons that contribute to this trend .

1. With our roads, speed bumps and traffic, the joy of driving is slowly zapped away from the average Rajesh who does 95% of his commute to/from work within the city. Not everyone is hitting the highways or the hills every weekend and not everyone can have different cars for different purposes.

2. Looks dominate the priority of requirements while choosing the car. -We have become so consumed by this idea of 'butch', 'masculine' and 'tough' somehow being synonymous to the SUV body shape and that has led us into a downward spiral where manufacturers want to feed us that SUV shape by chopping their existing cars into abomination proportions. Some 'SUVs' on the road today ruin my day just looking at them on the roads and the 'butch' masculine drivers driving them like they own the road.

2. Vicious Cycle - Earlier, only few needed SUVs for utility. Then longer cars conveyed 'premium'. Then later, only few could afford and maintain an SUV as they were not mass market. Then as the market demand shifted the makers started propping anything on stilts and sticking plastic everywhere and screaming SUV that today you can buy a tall 'SUV' for less than 5 lacs.

3. Then there is all this unfortunate talk, even in our forum, praising how SUVs have 'road presence' and everyone, even buses give way to the tall, big, butch, SUV. Now we are grinning as we bully our way through the roads. The guy who gave way to us today, doesn't want to be bullied tomorrow. He goes ahead and chooses the tallest biggest thing on wheels that fits his budget, doesn't matter whats inside as long as others part the way for him. So spirals the vicious cycle and the baseline height has been raised as a community. Most cars are tall and now we are on the way to continue to prod manufacturers to make super tall bus like Frankensteins on a short wheel base. This is gender neutral and so true because now my wife wants an SUV because she feels that she is bullied on the road by bigger cars and can't see clearly ahead because all cars are taller and zaps her confidence in driving. I sadly have to agree with her.

[Eshan Joshi]

I honestly hate crossovers. They literally ruined the names of capable off roaders like the Forester, Duster, Rav4. Because off crossovers some sedan people insult these capable 4x4s. Honestly crossovers are ruining true 4x4s. Just see how curvy the new Land Rovers have become.

Originally Posted by DicKy

. Can understand crossovers like the Duster, specifically for its jacked up nature. But the vast majority have to be babied just like cars.

Don't underestimate the duster. It's a monster off road.

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/adv...a-duster-ice#8

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/suv...acia-duster#14

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-RYrOVr-rI

[i_nv]

For me the most important aspect of buying a family vehicle is drive comfort not only for the driver but for those sitting behind him/her as well . SUV cannot give the drive comfort of Sedan .

Surprisingly in last 10 years features other than drive comfort have become priority for discerning buyer hence the manufacturers have responded likewise.
If one needs planted and comfortable drive both in the city and in a highway , Sedan would be the logical choice .

I don't see Sedan dying soon . The real sedans would survive and the hatchback-with-a-boot called sedans would not survive .

Originally Posted by iliketurtles

I will defend the sedan with my dying breath, and it is a hill I am prepared to die on, even if my lowly sedan won't clear it on account of lack of ground clearance. Such is the life of a sedan lover.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by kiku007

BTW this thread is about the USA and is in the international automotive scene.

This is the key point. In the US medium/large sedans went down the pecking order because of the big trucks/SUVs. In India the small sedan market got hit by ‘butch’ looking crossovers which are effectively high-riding hatchbacks; the scene is actually very different. We will see Creta, Seltos or Brezza doing huge numbers but the likes of Fortuner, Endeavour, or Compass will still linger around 300-1200 units per month.