What was the first car classified as an SUV?
47696#24
According to Robert Casey, the transportation curator at the Henry Ford Museum, the 1984 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) was the first true sport utility vehicle in the modern understanding of the term, although Jeep already used the term literally in their 1974 brochures, for the original SJ Cherokee. Developed under the leadership of AMC's François Castaing and marketed to urban families as a substitute for a traditional car (and especially station wagons, which were still fairly popular at the time), the Cherokee had four-wheel drive in a more manageable size (compared to the full-size Wagoneer) as well as a plush interior resembling a station wagon. With the introduction of more luxurious models and a much more powerful 4-liter engine, sales of the Cherokee increased even higher as the price of gasoline fell, and the term "sport utility vehicle" began to be used in the national press for the first time. "The advent and immediate success of AMC/Jeep's compact four-door Cherokee turned the truck industry upside down."
Sport utility vehicle
47696#54
The production of luxury models increased in the late-1990s with vehicles such as the Lincoln Navigator and Cadillac Escalade. These luxury SUVs generated higher profit margins than non-luxury SUVs did. For some auto makers, luxury SUVs were the first SUV models they produced. Some of these models are not traditional SUVs based on light truck as they are classified as crossovers.
Sport utility vehicle
8669149#5
Heavier-duty SUVs are typically designed with a truck-style chassis with separate body, while lighter-duty (including cross-over models) are more similar to car construction, which are typically built with a unitary construction (where the body actually forms the structure). Originally designed and built to be work vehicles using a truck chassis, SUVs were not comprehensively re-designed to be safely used as passenger vehicles. The British television Fifth Gear programme staged a crash between a first generation (1989–98) Land Rover Discovery with a separate chassis and body, and a modern Renault Espace IV with monocoque (unit) design. This traditional truck-based SUV offered less protection for occupants than that offered in the modern multi-purpose vehicle with unitary construction. In some SUV fatalities involving truck-based construction, lawsuits against the automakers "were settled quietly and confidentially, without any public scrutiny of the results—or the underlying problems with SUV design", thus hiding the danger of vehicles such as the Ford Bronco and Explorer compared to regular passenger cars.
Criticism of sport utility vehicles
997419#18
The Aspen was the first truck-based SUV commercialized under the Chrysler brand, although the PT Cruiser was the first truck-based Chrysler brand vehicle as classified under Corporate Average Fuel Economy's (CAFE) regulation. With this introduction, as of 2007, all American automobile brands had an SUV in their range. The truck was unveiled at the 2005 North American International Auto Show. The Aspen came equipped with three rows of seating for eight passengers and available all-wheel drive. It was available in only one trim, Limited.
Dodge Durango
44534832#4
Bentley's first production SUV was first previewed as the Bentley EXP 9 F concept car at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. The concept car was based upon the Volkswagen Group MLB platform, powered by a 6.0-litre W12 engine producing 600 hp. The production version was announced in July 2013. The Bentley EXP 9 F's design proved to be controversial, and it received a mixed response from the automobile press. After some criticism for the design of the EXP 9 F, Bentley announced that it would change the styling for the production version of the SUV, the Bentayga.
The initial design of the EXP 9 F was redesigned to achieve "more traditional SUV proportions and less retro surfacing." Almost four years after the Bentley EXP 9 F concept was unveiled, the Bentayga began production at Bentley's factory in Crewe, England.
Bentley Bentayga
251887#19
The SUV models generated higher profit-margins than passenger cars, and automakers introduced new luxury models during the late 1990s, starting with Lincoln Navigator in 1997, besides traditional models like the Grand Cherokee. For some manufacturers such as Porsche and BMW, luxury SUVs were the first SUV models they produced. Luxury SUVs catered particularly to the U.S. market where station wagons were unpopular, often being produced in North America (such as BMW Spartanburg) instead of the luxury marque's home country. Some of these models were a unibody construction, instead of the body-on-frame construction traditionally used by off-road vehicles.
Luxury vehicle
251887#16
Long before the luxury SUV segment became popular in the 1990s, the vehicle in this segment was the 1966 Jeep Super Wagoneer, which was marketed at the time as a station wagon. It was the first off-road SUV to offer a V8 engine, automatic transmission, and luxury car trim and equipment. Standard equipment included bucket seating, a center console, air conditioning, seven-position tilt steering wheel, a vinyl roof and gold colored trim panels on the body sides and tailgate. By the late 1970s, optional equipment included an electric sunroof, The 1978 Jeep Wagoneer Limited was the spiritual successor to the Super Wagoneer and was the first four-wheel drive car to use leather upholstery.
Luxury vehicle
173290#51
Following the entry of China's Geely as a shareholder of PROTON in 2017, the carmaker has announced the launch of the Proton SUV Sport utility vehicle., which will be the first SUV under the marque. The car is based on the hugely successful Geely Boyue, with touches of local design elements introduced for the Malaysian market. The first batch of the locally named Proton X70 will be imported from China, with localisation plans afoot with the expansion of their Tanjong Malim plant .
PROTON Holdings
1241710#5
The first imported car to win the award was the Japanese Honda Accord for 1977. In 1982, the award was shared for the first time between badge engineered cars and, in 1991, between completely different types of cars. Over the years, the COTY criteria has been further refined and, for 2004, it was amended to allow any Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) to be eligible for the first time, permitting the Australian-made Ford Territory to take the title. For 2011, the Honda CR-Z instead became the first hybrid to win the award.
Wheels Car of the Year
251887#20
During the mid-2000s, SUVs from luxury car brands grew at almost 40 percent in the United States to more than 430,000 vehicles (excluding SUV-only brands like Hummer and Land Rover), at a time when luxury car sales suffered a 1% decline, and non-luxury SUV sales were flat. By 2004, 30 percent of major luxury brands' U.S. sales were SUVs. Crossover SUVs became increasingly popular in the mid-2000s, and manufacturers also began to produce luxury versions of crossovers. The Lexus RX was the earliest luxury crossover on the market, and it has since been the best-selling luxury vehicle in the US. Some luxury crossovers are built on a platform shared with sedans or hatchbacks, for example the Infiniti FX is based upon the Nissan FM platform that also underpins other Infiniti cars. While early luxury crossovers released in the late 1990s have resembled traditional boxy SUVs, more recent crossovers, such as the Infiniti FX and BMW X6, have been designed with a sporting appearance.
Luxury vehicle
21651366#5
The first car sold from the house is a SUV, called DR5, with Chery components and Bosch electronic. This model was presented as a prototype at the 31º Bologna Motor Show in 2006.
Dr5 was the first DR model, launched in November 2007, and for the occasion Massimo Di Risio celebrated the moment with the symbolic gesture of punching the chassis number on the first car produced.
DR Automobiles