Surging sales of compact utility vehicles may be grabbing headlines, but don't go thinking the little 'uns' gain has been the big 'uns' pain. Even in a Canadian market that favours smaller vehicles, sales of mid-size SUV/CUVs are also on the rise (and large ones even more so).
The mainstreaming of SUVs really began with midsize models, and this year marks the 25th anniversary of the nameplate that truly established SUVs as family vehicles. Launched as a 1991 model, the first Ford Explorer was little more than a wagonoid body atop a Ford Ranger pickup chassis. It was crude, but it was effective. Canny marketing persuaded shoppers that these basic utility vehicles were cool. At its peak the Explorer sold well over 400,000 copies a year in the United States; for a time, it wasn't just the top-selling SUV – it was one of the top-selling vehicles, period.
A lot has happened since then. Other manufacturer tossed their hats into the SUV ring, and widened the genre's appeal by adding crossover models – CUVs – that drove more like the cars whose architecture they shared. The Ford's street cred was hurt, too, when in the late 1990s some Explorer models rolled at high speed when their Firestone tires disintegrated.
For 2011, the fifth-generation Explorer followed most competitors and became a crossover, based on a front-wheel-drive car architecture. And although sales are now barely half what they were in the name-plate's glory days, the Explorer is still the U.S. sales champion in its midsize segment.
That's a source of pride for Explorer brand manager Matt Zuehlk, who points out that the current generation is five years old while some key rivals – notably the Toyota Highlander – have been redesigned in the past year or so.
In Canada, a Ford also leads the segment – but it's the slightly smaller, Ontario-built five-seat Edge that achieved that position. Explorer sales grew 18 per cent last year but it still ranked only fifth in the class (or fourth, if you don't lump together GM's Buick Enclave/Chev Traverse/GMC Acadia triplets).
And although Ford has freshened the Explorer for 2016, it faces an onslaught of even fresher – i.e., completely redesigned – competition. That includes its own sibling, the Edge, which enters its second generation for 2015.
Also starting over for 2016 is the Edge's closest rival – a nameplate that may surprise you, coming as it does from an arguably second-tier manufacturer: Kia. But the Kia Sorento's success is no flash in the pan. The current crossover design has owned second place in the segment since 2011, its first full year on the market.
Michael Sprague, Kia's U.S. sales and marketing VP, says the midsize CUV segment still has legs, at least as long as gas (in the U.S.) stays below $3 a gallon. If it doesn't, the Sorento's available four-cylinder engines and still relatively compact dimensions should be an asset.
Not much is new with the third-ranked Jeep Grand Cherokee and GM's fourth-placed threesome, but Explorer is being challenged from below by the completely re-engineered and restyled 2016 Honda Pilot and 2015 Nissan Murano.
As for the Ford Explorer, brand manager Zuehlk says the number one reason-to-buy for Explorer customers is – perhaps surprisingly – styling. So Ford didn't mess with Explorer's basic shape for its 2016 freshening, focussing instead on adding technology, a more-powerful base four-cylinder engine, and a new max-luxe Platinum trim grade.
We'll have to see whether, even in the U.S., that's enough to keep the on top of the market segment that was its own creation.
The popular one - Ford Edge
Built in Ontario, the five-seat Edge has regularly outsold its peers – even including its Explorer elder – since its 2006 launch. For 2015, it gets a complete re-do (though the styling is a subtle evolution) and goes on sale this spring with scads of on-board tech, and a choice of 3.5-litre naturally-aspirated or 2.7-litre EcoBoost V-6s, or a 2.0-litre EcoBoost four.
The little upstart - Kia Sorento
The original truck-based Sorento was an also-ran, but its crossover-based replacement has gone gangbusters since arriving in 2010. Attractions include available three-row seating in a relatively compact package, and lots of trim/powertrain combinations. The redesigned and slightly larger 2016 model adds a 2.0-litre turbo four to the existing naturally-aspirated 2.4-litre four and 3.3-litre V-6.
The rational, efficient one - Honda Pilot
The Pilot always was the epitome of efficiency, offering eight usable seats within one of the segment’s more compact exteriors, powered by a 3.5-litre V-6 with fuel-saving cylinder shut-down technology. The all-new third-generation 2016 is the same even more so, while upping the ante in on-board connectivity (five USB ports!), style and finish.
The suave socializer - Nissan Murano
The original 2003 Murano introduced unprecedented levels of elegance to the SUV sector, and the all-new 2015 design aims to take that even further. It’s also positioned as the affordable luxury option among its peers, with a plush new interior that pursues a “social lounge” theme. The powertrain is basically carryover, with a 3.5-litre V-6 hitched to a continuously-variable transmission.
The real deal - Jeep Grand Cherokee
Not much is new for 2015, but the Grand Cherokee deserves mention as the outlier in its cohort. Based on a rear-wheel-drive architecture, it offers hard-core off-road capability (three different 4x4 systems are offered) as well as a choice of V-8 power or diesel frugality – or even a hot-rod SRT version – as options to the segment-typical gasoline V-6.
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