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Canadian car buyers are practical and frugal – but not necessarily both at the same time. On one hand, the three top-selling models are full-size pickups – gas-guzzlers all, and not exactly chump-change purchases once optioned up to the Crew-Cab 4x4 V-8 format most buyers prefer. On the other hand, the biggest-selling vehicle category has long been compact passenger cars – an affordable, economical species typified by the car-sales-leading Honda Civic.

Increasingly, Canadians are choosing a different breed of vehicle that hits a sweet spot between practical and frugal. Last year, compact sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and crossover utility vehicles (CUVs) overtook compact cars as the most popular vehicle type. As defined by auto-business journal Canadian Auto World, sales of small-SUV/CUVs last year soared 16.5 per cent to 399,770 while compact cars edged up only 2.1 per cent, to about 375,000.

The Honda Civic remained in fourth behind the Detroit pickup troika, but the Ford Escape CUV vaulted to fifth, leapfrogging Civic's closest passenger-car rivals, the Hyundai Elantra and Toyota Corolla. The Escape also outsold its own car sibling, the Focus, by more than two to one.

The trend was described last year by veteran auto analyst Dennis DesRosiers as "meteoric." And it looks to continue, with newcomers like the Honda HRV, Jeep Renegade and Mazda CX-3 joining a new sub-species of slightly smaller CUVs. Even luxury auto makers are saying "me too!" with recent introductions like the Audi Q3 and Mercedes GLA.

Compact CUVs cost more to buy than their car siblings, but according to research by MaritzCX, the top reason consumers are willing to pay the premium is all-wheel drive. Other top CUV draws included safety features, cargo capacity and roadholding/handling. MaritzCX also found CUV buyers tend to be older than compact-car buyers; are more likely to be married; and have higher household income.

The primary source of small-CUV customers (27.4 per cent) are repeat buyers, but almost as many (25.2 per cent) came out of compact cars. Increasingly, small-CUV customers are also downsizing from mid-size CUVs. As Ben Spatafora, national director of Car Cost Canada, says: "A lot of city dwellers no longer want to drive the SUVs that were the previous flavour of the month after they moved away from minivans. Now those (SUVs) are getting a little too big."

Most players in this segment are fresh, but segment novelties to seek out at the Canadian International Auto Show include the 2016 Chevrolet Equinox, and Mitsubishi's unique-in-segment plug-in hybrid version of the Outlander.

Ford

Ford Escape

2014 Sales: 52,198

Available in a wide variety of trim-grade and powertrain combinations, the segment-dominating Ford Escape is fun to drive, with agile handling, and strong yet refined performance from the available 2.0-litre EcoBoost turbo engine (though fuel economy isn’t as frugal as claimed). It’s main weakness: mediocre rear-seat space.

Honda

Honda CR-V

2014 Sales: 37,684

The original 1997 CR-V was a cute-ute pioneer, but the recently freshened Gen-4 version feels more like the elder statesman of its class. It handles well enough, but its strengths are those that appeal most to left-brain thinkers – comfort, refinement, reliability, space and practicality. The only engine choice is a 185-hp 2.4-litre four-cylinder.

Toyota

Toyota RAV4

2014 Sales: 36,639

Overwhelmed by all the choices out there? The Ontario-built RAV4 is a safe-and-sensible default. Typically of Toyota, nothing about it will thrill you (no more V-6 option, just a 176-hp 2.5-litre four) or offend you, but it’s a decent all-round effort and promises a painless ownership experience.

Nissan

Nissan Rogue

2014 Sales: 28,827

Nissan’s contender has charged up the charts since its 2014 redesign. It’s hum-drum to drive (a 170-hp 2.5-litre four-cylinder is the only engine) but offers lots of kit for the money. It’s also one of the few small CUVs available with third-row seating (in a $2,050 package that includes navigation).

Hyundai

Hyundai Santa Fe Sport

2014 Sales: 27,580

Santa Fe actually comes in two versions – the seven-seat XL and this, the stubbier five-seat Sport. Even the Sport is one of the segment’s larger choices, offering class-above space, and numerous combos of FWD or AWD, trim grades and base 2.4-litre, 190-hp or impressive 2.0-litre, 264-hp turbo engines.

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