Suv Sales Soar As Cheap Chinese Crossovers Fuel Growth

Car makers have a tough time planning future models, what with changing legislation, hot-cold-hot-again EV uptake and plummeting cost targets. But one thing they can say for certain is that, whatever powertrain gets used, the car probably needs to be an SUV. Especially in the UK.

SUV sales have been on the climb for years now and show no signs of stopping. An Autocar analysis of SMMT data shows that two out of three models sold so far this year were SUVs. Their July share was even higher, at 68%.

This won't surprise anyone making a cursory analysis of the country's campsites, festival car parks or traffic jams this summer especially if you drive something lower. The charts reveal the same thing: the top seven best-selling cars in the UK for July were all SUVs, led by the Ford Puma.

An SUV shape is far from ideal in many ways. Taller means more drag, higher fuel consumption (whether electric or fossil), more weight and compromised handling. But it's too late: the SUV is here to stay. The improvements to all those negatives have to be made within the parameters of the SUV shape or risk losing customers.

The British invented the leisure off-roader and the Japanese brought them on down the road to create the modern SUV with the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V; then Nissan reduced the compromises to negligible with the Qashqai.

Now the Chinese are making them accessible like never before. Brands like Jaecoo, MG, Leapmotor and Geely are busy hoovering up customers whose budget might have otherwise restricted them to something small and low. To the end of July, a whopping 81% of all Chinese cars sold in the UK were SUVs, according to our analysis of the figures.

What defines an SUV is arguable. Some are angular, others are slippery. We reckon it means anything with a bit more height and a tad more swagger. The SMMT's "dual-purpose" definition is too limited these days, excluding the Qashqai but including the Jaecoo 7.

How far can the SUV takeover go? Sales of traditional family hatchbacks are plummeting as brands either deprioritise them or, like Ford with the Focus, exit them altogether.

The market for bigger low-slung models once dominated by the Vauxhall Vectra and Ford Mondeo has shrunk to almost nothing. The same goes for their premium equivalents. Only small hatchbacks - currently accounting for around one in 10 sales, led by the Vauxhall Corsa - are maintaining their value-stiffened fortress against the onslaught.