SUV Love? These Are the 10 SUVs and Crossovers Americans Don't Want

U.S. sales of SUVs and crossovers grew 8 percent in the first-half of 2016, a gain of more than 240,000 units compared with the January-June period of 2015.

Producing a utility vehicle which transfers buyers from the passenger car sector to the SUV/crossover side of the ledger is almost as automatic as increasing ride height, installing body cladding, and inserting an X into the nomenclature.

Or is it?

Despite the clear understanding that small crossovers are stealing sales from the midsize car sector, that baby utilities are quickly crafting a blossoming subcompact crossover sector, and that many traditional body-on-frame SUVs are surging, there are dozens of SUVs and crossovers that are selling less often this year than last. While a wide array of SUVs/crossovers are yet again on track for record-breaking U.S. sales years, there are many utility vehicles that are selling far below their record pace.

You can check GCBC for exhaustive SUV/crossover results, but the lists below highlight the utility vehicles that are plunging fastest and selling the least.

In tabulating the sharpest year-over-year declines, we excluded discontinued models and vehicles in the midst of model changeovers: Mazda CX-9, Nissan Armada, GMC Acadia.

In compiling a list of the least often sold SUVs/crossovers in the first-half of 2016, we excluded discontinued models, vehicles with base prices above $50,000, and vehicles that weren’t on sale throughout the first-half of 2016.

At the intersection of these two lists sits the Volkswagen Touareg, sales of which tumbled by a third in the first six months of 2016, a vehicle with base prices below $50,000 that attracts fewer than 400 new owners per month. More than 13 years into the company’s efforts, we examined Volkswagen’s disappointing U.S. SUV/crossover sales performance.

Americans are also acquiring far fewer Volvo XC60s, Mini Countrymans ( Countrymen?), and Range Rover Evoques, this year than last. Those vehicles debuted in 2009, 2010, and 2011, and — while their categories are flying high — there are numerous newer, better rivals.

Besides a simple drop in demand, there are specific reasons some vehicles appear in this space. The Acura MDX’s 16-percent decline, for example, comes as Acura moves some MDX production from Alabama — where it shares a constrained plant with a Honda trio — to Ohio, which should, with a 2017 refresh, restore MDX health.

As for the strictly uncommon SUVs and crossovers, it’s worth noting that the Mazda CX-9 is on its way out of the basement. CX-9 volume rose 21 percent to 1,904 units in June as the second-generation model begins to take hold. There was no MY2016 Nissan Armada, as the next Nissan Patrol-based Armada debuts for MY2017. The BMW X4’s X3 partner posted a 49-percent jump to 19,828 first-half sales. The Fiat 500X’s fraternal Jeep Renegade twin, meanwhile, is the leader among subcompact crossovers.

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook.