A coupe SUV is a type of sport utility vehicle with a sloping rear roofline similar to those of fastbacks or Kammbacks. The sloping roofline is adopted to offer a styling advantage compared to its standard SUV counterpart, [1] [2] which helps increase profit margins as manufacturers are able to raise the price by marketing it as a more premium model. [3] Since all coupe SUVs ever produced are of the crossover variety, coupe SUVs may also be called "coupe crossovers" or "coupe crossover SUVs".
Although the term "coupe" itself is supposed to refer to a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two (or three) doors, traditional two-door SUVs (including body-on-frame SUVs) such as certain models of Toyota RAV4 and Jeep Wrangler are never considered by such terms, and every coupe SUV by definition (except for the Range Rover Evoque Coupé) is equipped with five doors. [4] The body style notably gained criticism as some see it as less attractive and less practical than normal crossovers, since the low roofline reduces cargo space and rear passenger headroom. [5]
The BMW X6 is generally considered the first coupe SUV. [6] It was based on the BMW X5 and has been marketed as a "Sports Activity Coupé" (SAC), as opposed to standard BMW crossovers, which are called "Sports Activity Vehicles" (SAVs). Introduced in 2008, the X6's styling generated some controversy upon its introduction, as it had less cargo space and a higher price. Mercedes-Benz followed suit in 2015 with the GLE-Class Coupe, while Audi released the Q8 in 2018. [7] [8]
The AMC Eagle SX/4, which was introduced in 1981, has also been argued to be the first coupe SUV, since it is a lifted two-door liftback with a permanent all-wheel drive system and was marketed as a car that is capable of light-duty off-roading. [9] The second-generation Lexus RX and the 2003 Infiniti FX had introduced similar sloping roof design elements without being marketed as coupe SUVs. [10]
Due to its roots from the BMW X6, the segment in its early days mostly consisted of vehicles in the luxury segment. [6] Audi released the coupe version of their Q5 crossover with the "Sportback" moniker, while Mercedes-Benz uses the "Coupé" designation, both in line with their two-door and four-door coupes or fastbacks. [11] Several manufacturers began offering coupe crossovers from non-luxury segments, for example the Renault Arkana, [12] the Fiat Fastback, [13] and some China-only models such as the Mazda CX-4, [14] Volkswagen Tiguan X and Škoda Kodiaq GT.
Some crossovers may feature similar fastback roof sloping, but are not explicitly marketed as coupe SUVs. Examples are the Tesla Model X and Model Y, Toyota C-HR, Nissan Ariya, and Volvo C40.
According to Strategic Vision, an automotive research and consulting company, buyers of coupe SUVs—particularly those from Mercedes-Benz—are four to five years younger than the usual buyers of typical SUVs. This decreases a car brand's average age, which in turn increases the brand's desirability. They also noted that buyers of SUV coupes are less price-sensitive, which means brands can increase the price tag on these vehicles without affecting sales. [3] For example, the BMW X6 has an MSRP which is more expensive by around US$ 5,000 in the US compared to the comparably-equipped BMW X5, which greatly helped increase revenue for BMW despite being the less popular model. [15]
The coupe SUV category has attracted criticism due to being more expensive than its traditional SUV counterpart, despite having reduced cargo space and rear passenger headroom due to their lower rear roof. Like other crossover SUVs, coupe SUVs also offers poorer performance than their wagon/hatch/coupe/sedan/ equivalent due to additional weight and ride height. [5] Kristen Lee from Jalopnik argued that coupe SUVs "aren’t are [ sic] particularly good at any one thing," [16] Other criticisms arise from the fact that coupe SUV contradicts the traditional concept of a coupe which should only have two doors, frameless doors, and 2+2 seating. [17] [18]
Since its introduction, the exterior design of the BMW X6 has been widely regarded as controversial, as the rear design in particular was said to make the car look "heavy". The first-generation Acura ZDX has received a negative reception from critics and was not a sales success. [19] [20] [21]
Acura is the luxury and performance division of Japanese automaker Honda, based primarily in North America. The brand was launched on March 27, 1986, marketing luxury and performance automobiles. Acura sells cars in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, and Kuwait. The company has also previously sold cars in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Russia, and Ukraine. Plans to introduce Acura to the Japanese domestic market in the late 2000s did not eventuate due to the financial crisis of 2007–2008.
A coupe or coupé is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors.
A luxury car is a car that provides above-average to high-end levels of comfort, features, and equipment. Often more expensive materials and surface finishes are used, and buyers expect better build quality. The usually higher pricing and more upscale appearance is often associated with higher social status of the users, compared to low and mid-market segment cars.
The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), also known as the Detroit Auto Show, is an annual auto show held in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., at Huntington Place. The show was held in January from 1989 to 2019. It was intended to move to the summer in 2020, but was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic that year and 2021, before returning in September 2022. It is among the largest auto shows in North America. UPI says the show is "regarded as the foremost venue for [car] manufacturers to unveil new products".
The Mercedes-Benz CLS is a series of executive cars produced by Mercedes-Benz from October 2004 to August 2023.
A fastback is an automotive styling feature, defined by the rear of the car having a single slope from the roof to the tail.
A crossover, crossover SUV, or crossover utility vehicle (CUV) is a type of automobile with an increased ride height that is built on unibody chassis construction shared with passenger cars, as opposed to traditional sport utility vehicles (SUV), which are built on a body-on-frame chassis construction similar to pickup trucks.
A liftback is a variation of a hatchback car body style, with a more gently sloping roofline, roughly between 45 and 10 degrees, whereas traditional or archetypal hatchback designs tend to use a 45 degree to near vertical slope on the top-hinged tailgate.
BMW M GmbH, formerly known as BMW Motorsport GmbH, is a subsidiary of BMW AG that manufactures performance cars.
Canadian Car of the Year winners, as chosen by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada:
The New York International Auto Show is an annual auto show that is held in Manhattan, New York City in late March or early April. It is held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. It usually opens on or just before Easter weekend and closes on the first Sunday after Easter.
The International Motor Show Germany or International Mobility Show Germany, in German known as the Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung, is one of the world's largest mobility trade fairs. It consists of two separate fairs, that subdivided in 1991. While the IAA Mobility displays passenger vehicles, motorcycles and bikes, the IAA Transportation specializes in commercial vehicles. Before the separation, the show was held solely at the Messe Frankfurt.
The Los Angeles Auto Show, also known as the LA Auto Show, is an auto show held annually at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is open to the public for ten days, filling 760,000 square feet (71,000 m2) of exhibit space. Since 2006 the event is held in November or December.
Super Handling-All Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) is a full-time, fully automatic, all-wheel drive traction and handling system, which combines front-rear torque distribution control with independently regulated torque distribution to the left and right rear wheels. This way the system freely distributes the optimum amount of torque to all four wheels according to the driving conditions. The system was announced in April 2004, and was introduced in the North American market in the second generation 2005 model year Acura RL, and in Japan as the fourth generation Honda Legend.
Auto Shanghai, officially known as the Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition, is a biennial international automobile show that alternates with the Beijing Auto Show as China's yearly international automotive exhibition. First held in 1985, Auto Shanghai is the nation's oldest auto exhibition, and is considered as an important major international auto show.
The Acura ZDX is a mid-size luxury crossover SUV with a sloping rear roofline developed by Honda for its upmarket brand Acura. The car was originally planned to be called the "MSX". The ZDX debuted at the 2009 New York International Auto Show on April 8, 2009, as a 2010 model. The vehicle was also the first to be completely designed at Acura's southern California design studio in Torrance.
The Honda Crosstour is a mid-size crossover SUV with a sloping rear roofline manufactured by Japanese automaker Honda. It is based on the North American eighth-generation Accord. Sales began in November 2009 for the 2010 model year, and the vehicle was discontinued after the 2015 model year due to slow sales.
The Audi Q8 is a mid-size luxury crossover SUV coupé made by Audi that was launched in 2018. It is the flagship of the Audi SUV line, and is being produced at the Volkswagen Bratislava Plant.
The Renault Arkana is a compact crossover SUV (C-segment) with a sloping rear roofline produced by the French manufacturer Renault. The car debuted in May 2019 in Russia as a car based on the older Dacia/Renault Duster B0 platform. Another separate version of the vehicle was introduced in South Korea in February 2020 as the Renault Samsung XM3, and is based on a more advanced CMF-B platform. The latter version of the Arkana was later introduced in core European market in September 2020.
The Audi Q8 e-tron is a battery electric mid-size luxury crossover produced by Audi since 2019. The e-tron was unveiled as a concept car at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show. The final production version was revealed in San Francisco on 17 September 2018, publicly debuted at the 2018 Paris Motor Show, and was first delivered in May 2019. It is the company's first battery electric mass production car. The Sportback variant, a coupe style of the e-tron, entered production in 2020.