The Real Deal: In 2017, Traditional Body-On-Frame SUV Sales Are Still Rising In America

All across America, Hummer H2s are rolling over in their graves.

What even is a Toyota C-HR? Is the Hyundai Kona an indirect Kia Borrego replacement? The Jeep Renegade shares its platform with… an Italian cute-ute?

But have no fear, dead Hummer. The body-on-frame SUV is here to stay. The surge in crossovers — both the number sold and the number of nameplates available — has not caused the American consumer to leave traditional SUVs behind entirely.

U.S. sales of traditional body-on-frame SUVs are up 7 percent through the first five months of 2017, right on par with the growth rate achieved by the SUV/crossover sector as a whole.

This 7-percent year-over-year sales expansion has occurred despite the loss of almost all Land Rover LR4 sales. The LR4, replaced this spring by the Land Rover Discovery, made use of an Integrated Body Frame, essentially a hybrid ladder frame/monocoque construction.

While the LR4’s demise resulted in 4,794 fewer traditional SUV sales, and while Jeep Wrangler sales slowed as the Jeep faithful wait for an all-new model, body-on-frame SUV sales are continuing to grow.

Nearly 11 percent of the utility vehicles sold in the United States in 2017’s first five months were body-on-frame SUVs. Of the 303,000 body-on-frame SUVs sold, more than one-quarter were Jeep Wranglers.

The Toyota 4Runner owns nearly one-fifth of the BOF market.

General Motors, with six full-size, truck-based SUVs, has already collected nearly 99,000 body-on-frame SUV sales this year. That’s nearly one-third of the BOF market.

General Motors, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and the Ford Motor Company produce 69 percent of the body-on-frame SUV sector’s volume, down slightly from 71 percent a year ago as Toyota/Lexus and Nissan/Infiniti grew their combined share from 27 percent in 2016’s first five months to 30 percent in 2017.

The Patrol-based Nissan Armada’s introduction played a big role in Nissan’s post-Xterra body-on-frame SUV effort. Armada sales have nearly tripled this year.

Nevertheless, while rumors of body-on-frame SUVs such as a Colorado-based Chevrolet TrailBlazer or reborn Toyota FJ Cruiser intermittently pop up, this segment is not the future.

There are only 17 continuing body-on-frame SUV nameplates, and the number of platforms contributing to the segment is even smaller.

On the other hand, the utility vehicle sector’s crossover ledger currently includes twelve new nameplates that didn’t even exist two years ago.

No, body-on-frame SUVs aren’t the future. Fortunately, they’re not the past, either.

Timothy Cain is a contributing analyst at The Truth About Cars and Autofocus.ca and the founder and former editor of GoodCarBadCar.net. Follow on Twitter @timcaincars.