Sport utility vehicles rule at the 2017 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, which opens to the public this weekend. Automakers are responding to American consumers who are flocking to crossovers and larger 4X4s in the current sustained period of cheap gas. Compacts, green cars, and strange concepts were pushed to the back of the displays—making the show floor a sea of SUVs, all of which looked basically alike.
Audi’s Q8 Concept shows where the production version will likely end up, in 2018. Expect a new Q5, too.
It started with the world premiere of Audi’s Q8 Concept in Bombay blue. We heard about its “very dynamic silhouette,” but in fact if you’ve seen one Audi SUV, well, you’ve seen ‘em all. The concept is the basis for a production version in 2018, and a new Q5 will debut this spring.
VW’s Atlas is a new midsize SUV to be built in Tennessee.
Volkswagen brought out its midsize Atlas, the family-friendly SUV that the automaker was at pains to emphasize will be made right here in the US at its plant in Chattanooga. “It’s huge, a big entry in the segment for us,” said Hinrich Woebcken, VW’s US chief executive. After a year full of “challenges” for the brand, a reference to the company's diesel emissions scandal, a lot rests on the Atlas’s squared-off shoulders.
There are only so many ways to style these utility vehicles, also evidenced by VW’s new Tiguan that gives Americans what they want—more space. It’s 10.7 inches longer, with 57 percent more luggage space. A third row of seats is available, with sliding seating in the second row.
In an effort to be different, the Lexus UX Concept twists the basic SUV shape into a pretzel.
On the Lexus stand was the UX Concept, a valiant attempt to twist the box into something new and interesting. The results are interesting, something like a collision between a Mad Max vehicle and a Suburban. An extreme SUV, yes, but except for some of the add-on design flourishes and barn doors (that will never make it to production), you could find SUVs with a similar shape in a parking lot.
Nissan’s Rogue is its bestselling model, so new on the stand is a 2017 Rogue Sport that will be available this spring. Mercedes-Benz, which exceeded two million sales in 2016, is investing $1.3 billion in its Tuscaloosa, Alabama plant so it can build more SUVs in America.
BMW’s X2 is coming in 2018.
Not to be outdone, BMW is meeting every conceivable SUV niche, with a new X2 coming into the lineup for 2018. Thirty percent of BMW sales in the US are in the fast-growing bulky X line.
Akido Toyoda, Toyota's chief executive, said it best, in introducing the new Toyota Camry at the Detroit show. “Why should SUVs get all the glory?” The new Camry—arguably the best looking iteration of the mainstay Toyota sedan—was one of the few non-SUV introductions at the auto show. The other notable non-SUV introduction was the new Kia Stinger sports sedan. But those were mostly lost among the crossovers. The rapid pace of the SUV unveilings made plain just how hard it is say something new within the confines of the basic box that is intrinsic to the ultra-popular segment.
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