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In Europe, SUVs and crossovers are bought by people with children, back problems or those who think that it will make them look interesting. None of those are “

In Europe, SUVs and crossovers are bought by people with children, back problems or those who think that it will make them look interesting. None of those are “cool”. Unless you like to holler at single moms at the playground boosting about the triple ISO fix childseat attachment. Marketing does a great job into making you think that SUVs are for hip young people with active urban lifestyles but in reality it’s mainly old folks and parents who buy them.

close04 7y ago
Being in the market for such a car I realized that a Mercedes E-class or Skoda Superb (the combi/estate versions) have only slightly less cargo space than an Audi Q7 when the seats are up, and just about as much space with the seats folded. From what I can tell most people who go for the SUV for practical reasons do it for the safety or the assumption that a bulkier car will have more room. A factor rarely considered is that big wheels and bulkier axles will eat some of the interior space. This being said most of the people I know (or know of) more or less drive those SUVs alone every day. I guess they get 2 birds with one stone: practical car that's also a status symbol, with the popular interpretation that bigger is better.
LoSboccacc 7y ago
europe has also a radically different road network. i.e. urban-suv are doing better here than regular suv because of the difficulties in navigating cities on larger cars and are eating up station wagons too because they get a comparable load volume but none of the parking difficulties. (and they also cost less than full sized suvs and europe has been in a two decade recession, so there's that going for them too)
- close04 7y ago
  Most CUVs (or urban SUVs) don't really have as much cargo space as a combi. They are based on the platform of the "regular" sibling (sedan) but with the bigger wheels and axles taking up some of the interior space. The higher driving position comes at a price. To put it in context, a VW Golf Combi or Peugeot 308 SW have 10+% more cargo space in a package that's slightly longer and narrower than equivalent CUVs like Skoda Karoq or Peugeot 3008 (2 of the roomiest CUVs out there). Whether you find width to be a bigger problem than length when navigating depends on where you live and how you drive. But the choice combi vs. CUV mostly comes mostly to image.
  - Nashooo 7y ago
    Skoda Karoq however can come with very easy (independent) removable backseats which creates a massive amount of cargo space.
    - close04 7y ago
      With most cars you get the option to fold the backseat. In the examples above the 308 SW has 660/1775 liters, the Karoq has 521/1810 liters. As you can see the Karoq offers marginally more space only with the seats folded. But that to me feels like an exceptional usage scenario rather than the rule. With the seats up the difference is pretty massive (the SW has ~30% more cargo space) and I think this is the more useful number if you're interested in cargo space. If you want a higher driving position, or better ground clearance, etc. a SW won't really do it.

close04 7y ago

Being in the market for such a car I realized that a Mercedes E-class or Skoda Superb (the combi/estate versions) have only slightly less cargo space than an Audi Q7 when the seats are up, and just about as much space with the seats folded. From what I can tell most people who go for the SUV for practical reasons do it for the safety or the assumption that a bulkier car will have more room. A factor rarely considered is that big wheels and bulkier axles will eat some of the interior space. This being said most of the people I know (or know of) more or less drive those SUVs alone every day. I guess they get 2 birds with one stone: practical car that's also a status symbol, with the popular interpretation that bigger is better.

LoSboccacc 7y ago

europe has also a radically different road network. i.e. urban-suv are doing better here than regular suv because of the difficulties in navigating cities on larger cars and are eating up station wagons too because they get a comparable load volume but none of the parking difficulties. (and they also cost less than full sized suvs and europe has been in a two decade recession, so there's that going for them too)

close04 7y ago
Most CUVs (or urban SUVs) don't really have as much cargo space as a combi. They are based on the platform of the "regular" sibling (sedan) but with the bigger wheels and axles taking up some of the interior space. The higher driving position comes at a price. To put it in context, a VW Golf Combi or Peugeot 308 SW have 10+% more cargo space in a package that's slightly longer and narrower than equivalent CUVs like Skoda Karoq or Peugeot 3008 (2 of the roomiest CUVs out there). Whether you find width to be a bigger problem than length when navigating depends on where you live and how you drive. But the choice combi vs. CUV mostly comes mostly to image.
- Nashooo 7y ago
  Skoda Karoq however can come with very easy (independent) removable backseats which creates a massive amount of cargo space.
  - close04 7y ago
    With most cars you get the option to fold the backseat. In the examples above the 308 SW has 660/1775 liters, the Karoq has 521/1810 liters. As you can see the Karoq offers marginally more space only with the seats folded. But that to me feels like an exceptional usage scenario rather than the rule. With the seats up the difference is pretty massive (the SW has ~30% more cargo space) and I think this is the more useful number if you're interested in cargo space. If you want a higher driving position, or better ground clearance, etc. a SW won't really do it.