Think it will be a HUGE hit with the 1 kid families....

 

Cross over is the hot segment. There are tons of people still in love with SUV that want decent gas mileage. I dont understand why they want to drive such cars. I would like to see gas going to $7-8 range just to kill all the SUV once and for all.

 

People also love Lady Gaga and Walmart. Doesn't mean it's good...

 

Its going to be hot for 12 months then it will become poser mobile #1

 

I saw this at the autoshow and my opinion is a Mini on Steriods and it shouldn't carry the Range Rover name. I wonder if they are going to drop the LR2?

 

They are going to sell a billion of these... and then we're going to see a billion of them on the road waiting for repair trucks to tow them back to the dealer for repairs...

I kid I kid... but really I hope they stepped up the reliability on these newer models. It's the only thing that keeps me from getting one!

 

Seriously? Does having SUVs on the road actually have an influence on your daily activities, or are you just some eco-hippie who believes that Barry is the Messiah? Either way, I pay for poor gas milage, both to the company (big evil oil), and to the state (NYS gas tax is ~32cpg).

 

I would like to see SUV killed too. The typical SUV driver is a bad driver, they typically have no lane etiquette, they eat and drink in their cars, they don't pay attention, they go slowly in the fast lane, they take corners at ridiculously slow speeds which is annoying on single lane roads. And they ruin the view if you are stuck behind one. Further their incorrect bumper heights makes them a serious danger to car drivers in collisions.

Would love to see the SUV die.

But that said these compact SUVs don't bother me as much as the big ones. They are lower, and more likely to be driven by a competent driver.

 

Yes, but the problem with that argument is that I could make it for any vehicular segment. There is abundance of drivers in the US without any talent. Hmm, bad driver, no lane etiquette, go slow in the fast lane - ever drive behind a buick or lincoln town car? Hmm, bad driver, no lane etiquette, eat and drink (especially morning rush hour), ruin your view - ever drive behind a minivan? High bumper heights, a semi and or a pickup truck win in that department. I am not saying that SUV drivers don't have these faults, they do. But these are faults of ALL drivers. Also, where I live we get buried with snow, so your arguments get extremely skewed from all drivers toward those who are non-SUV.

 

Right, but the SUV provides a degree of insulation between the driver and everyone else, which accentuates bad behavior. They have worse visibility which contributes to it. They have also an elevated sense of safety which contributes to it. I think most people drive worse when they switch from a car to an SUV.

Small SUVs are less likely to have these issues. You don't see RAV4 or EX35 drivers changing lanes without seeing that there is a car in the way. Because these small SUVs are not that different to cars. But the Escalades, Audi Q7s, X5s, Explorers, Highlanders, etc. provide a very different driving environment to a car.

At a minimum people should be required to take tests and have special licenses to operate these vehicles. Allowing some weak American driver to switch from a civic to an explorer because she had a kid is just silly.