QOTD: Worst Standard SUV Design of the 2010s?

Last Wednesday we pondered the best exterior styling found on SUVs and CUVs of the 2010s. This week, flip the question and consider the visually challenged rides of the past decade instead.

If I recall those distant 2010s correctly, there are plenty of designs upon which one might spill some Haterade.

First, a few guidelines. Like last week, we’re living by an affordability principle. All selections offered up today must cost less than $48,000 as new. That figure automatically rules out any one-offs or custom builds seen in random Internet places. Included for consideration are SUVs and CUVs of all shapes and sizes. And though some of you complained, there simply isn’t a large enough selection of SUVs to consider them in their own category. Sad! Finally, since we’re considering a single decade, all your picks must be of model years 2010 to 2019.

It took me a minute to scan my memories and decide on a singular worst-looking design for this category. A couple “maybe” choices were passed over once I’d recalled this abomination:

Part Accord, Part Outback, and not related to the similar-looking Acura ZDX, the Accord Crosstour is my selection for an awful CUV design. It debuted for the 2010 model year, playing the size-down alternative to the Pilot (really?). Considered a part of Honda’s SUV lineup, it had two rows of seats, a hatch, and a sort-of cargo area that bridged what you’d find in an Accord sedan and a CR-V.

Known as Accord Crosstour for the first two model years, Honda decided it didn’t want to associate it with its successful sedan any longer and renamed it simply Crosstour in 2012. It was available with front- or all-wheel drive, and with a 2.4-liter I4 (front-drive only) or the more-often-selected 3.5-liter V6. It was refreshed in 2013 (seen above) to look less Accordy and more Outbacky, suiting its mission.

Crosstour’s primary competition was the equally out-of-place Toyota Venza, and it died in much the same way: through slow sales. Crosstour’s strongest year was 2010, when sales nearly reached 29,000. By 2015 Honda shifted just over 9,000 of them. It was cancelled that year, but some Crosstours lingered on, unsold. There were 726 sold in 2016, and five more in 2017.

The Crosstour lacked purpose in Honda’s lineup, and in its design. Customers saw it, too, and instead chose one of the many other options available in the Honda family. It is undoubtedly one of the worst CUV designs of the 2010s.

What’s your pick?

[Images: GM, Honda]