2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 15:44
The off-road vehicles are becoming smaller and more economical. But a rethink has also begun with the large SUVs.
By Thomas Geiger
They are the enemy of climate protectors and are considered a dying species. But at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt, all-terrain vehicles are still represented in large numbers. No longer quite as big and angular, but more economical and cleaner than softies they drive out of the storm of criticism and therefore remain a fashionable alternative to station wagons or MPVs.
X1 before premiere
One example of this trend is the X1, which is premiering at BMW and will be available at dealers in October at prices starting at 27,200 euros. With a length of 4.46 meters, the smallest Kraxler from Bavaria is a hand's breadth shorter than the X3 and, with consumption figures of up to 5.8 liters, is also significantly more economical. BMW is also installing an automatic start-stop system and is openly talking about a version without all-wheel drive. It should only consume 5.2 liters. With the X1, the slimming down is not over yet: Already at the Geneva Motor Show in March, an all-wheel-drive offshoot of the Mini, which has been known as “CrossOver” until now, should be a size smaller.
The Hyundai stand in Frankfurt proves that BMW is not alone with the shrinking cure. There is still a study of the ix-Metro, which the Koreans are celebrating as a prototype of the “city SUV” and which could be launched on the market in two or three years as the ix25. Whether the new three-cylinder gasoline direct injection engine with 92 kW / 125 PS and mild hybrid will be ready by then, however, remains to be seen.
Tiguan with BlueMotion
But Hyundai and its sister brand Kia are meeting the trend towards the soft SUV even earlier. The shirt-sleeved Hyundai Tucson is at the fair as a fashionable, muscular iX35 and counteracts the climate criticism with a built-in consumption trainer. And the Kia Sorento in the class above turns from a tough warhorse with a ladder frame to a supple off-road glider, which, with a view to consumption, is optionally available without all-wheel drive.
German manufacturers are also turning the savings screw. That is why the GLK at Mercedes is not only available with new engines, but also with rear-wheel drive and a minimum consumption of 6.0 liters. And VW will be selling the Tiguan from November with the “Blue Motion” package including an automatic start-stop system and promising fuel savings of up to one liter.
Big ships on course for the environment
The revised Suzuki SX4 is also on the road to economy and will get a new diesel engine halfway through its model cycle. The previous 1.9-liter with 88 kW / 120 PS is replaced by a new 2.0-liter with an output of 99 kW / 135 PS. This makes the SX4 faster and more economical: consumption is reduced from 6.3 to 4.9 liters.
Although criticism grows along with fuel consumption, there are also a number of new “off-road giants” at the IAA. Land Rover is showing the new generation of Discovery, Range Rover and Range Rover Sport. And at Toyota, the next iteration of the Land Cruiser is turning the spotlight. But even these big ships are taking a more environmentally friendly course. Land Rover claims for the new V6 diesel with three liters of displacement and 180 kW / 245 PS and the new V8 gasoline engine with five liters of displacement and 375 kW / 510 PS "significantly more power with noticeably lower consumption". And Toyota has reduced the consumption of the three-liter, 127 kW / 173 hp four-cylinder diesel according to its own information to 8.0 liters.
Life saving measure
Nick Margetts from the market watcher Jato Dynamics in Limburg sees this development as a life-saving measure for the SUV dinosaurs: "While larger off-roaders tremble towards an uncertain fate, new, smaller off-road phoenixes rise from the ashes of their bigger brothers," says the analyst. "The recipe for savings is: Small is not only nice, but also politically correct, economical and chic."
In the registration statistics, the gap between “the greats of yesterday and the common ones of the present” is growing. Two years ago, luxury Lulatsche made up just over a quarter of all new SUV registrations in the five largest European countries, but in the same period January-August 2009 it was much less: “Our analysts were able to deny more than 83 percent of all off-road registrations assign small and medium-sized SUVs such as VW Tiguan, Audi Q5 and Ford Kuga,”says Margetts and is convinced of the compact IAA innovations:“Slim SUVs are in. With more economical engines, they have long been the trend in the segment.” (dpa / tmn)
