QOTD: When Will the Crossover Call It Quits?
As we bring you one Question of the Day each weekday, we figured getting someone from TTAC’s commentariat to ask questions of the same commentariat above the fold would add a dose of flavor. That flavor comes from Ohio, and its name is CoreyDL. Welcome him to the headlines and bylines.
It’s entirely likely in 2016 that you or someone you’re very close to own one or more crossovers. The CUV is as prevalent in the North American landscape these days as the midsize sedan was in about 1988. But as with the body-on-frame SUV which came before, and the all-American wood-sided family wagon before that, the party can’t last forever.
Safety groups want pedestrians to giggle like the Pillsbury Dough Boy when struck by two-ton metallic death machines, necessitating ever softer edges. Stricter fuel regulations push the roofs lower for the sake of aerodynamics, shrinking space for people and cargo. Designers who don’t shower very often show us shapes inspired by used bars of soap.
How long can this go on before the party’s over, and the CUV isn’t the cool kid any more?
When the day comes in 20## and I’m proven right, I’ll walk outside and slip into my personal pick for the Next Big Thing — an all-wheel-drive, all-weather-coupe (or AWD-AWC).
Aston Martin has shown us the slick DBX, and Nissan revealed the Gripz a while ago — hinting at a potential replacement for the perennial Z car. Even Giugiaro got in ahead of the game with the Parcour Concept in 2013.
You can come up with your own speculation and figures in the comments. Go ahead and tell me I’m wrong — that the CUV will reign supreme for the next 50 years, an icon only seen before in the likes of individual models like the Ford F-Series and the Corvette. Then let me know when you’ll be ready for your lifted AWD coupe.
How long will the crossover madness last?
[Images: © 2016 Chris Tonn/The Truth About Cars, Aston Martin]
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
More by Corey Lewis
Comments
Join the conversation
The station wagon has always reigned supreme. It just gets plastic surgery every few years. Sometimes it wears heels. Sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it has a truck bed. I assume the AWD coupe was a joke.
I often think about this. As a two-CUV owner (RAV and CRV), I think that it would have to do all of the things that a CUV does now, but much better...and cooler. I don't know what that looks like, so automakers will continue to CUV all the things in the meantime.