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What is a Crossover?

Understanding the phenomenon four-wheeling over America

Crossover vehicles have been available in the United States for the past decade or so, gaining market traction with all-wheel drive tenacity with year after year. Only recently, however, has the word "crossover" become part of the American lexicon. As the term implies, crossover vehicles are intended to satisfy a market segment nexus that sees consumers transitioning from sedans, wagons, SUVs, and even minivans, toward vehicles that offer balances of versatility, ride height, comfort, and often traction. Fuel economy concerns have further driven sales recently, with shoppers willing to sacrifice seldom-used truck-toughness from traditional SUVs, to purchase more car-like vehicles with similar packaging.

The automotive industry has felt the impact of sales shifting to crossovers, and smaller cars, as larger, once profitable SUVs remain on dealer lots, despite heavy incentive offers. The SUV market has matured, and shoppers have realized that, with only a few compromises, they can satisfy about 95 percent of their real needs with smaller vehicles. In response to this consumer change, both Ford Motor Company and General Motors have been vocal about shifting their product portfolios toward crossovers, with each automaker replacing their current minivans with models that have decidedly SUV-like profiles to join line-ups that have already been offering appealing crossovers.

Origin of the Species

Blazing the trails for today's crossover vehicles, the modern SUV can trace its roots to early purpose-built machines, such as the original Jeep, which safely transported troops during WWII. Over the years, truck-based SUVs became combination cargo-and-people movers, with tow capability and off-road potential that compromised performance, ride quality, and fuel economy. The slow evolution accelerated in the 1980s with the introduction of compact SUVs spun off of pickup trucks, such as the Chevrolet S-10 Blazer and Toyota 4Runner. Within a model generation, these once crude vehicles began taking on more refined manners, and sales volumes grew. By the 1990s, SUVs were big-volume mainstream items being led by the Ford Explorer.

As traditional SUVs became more civilized, Toyota crossed over to using a car platform for the compact RAV4. Based on the Corolla platform with borrowed Celica mechanical parts, the RAV4 was first a hit overseas, and then, in 1996, sparked a revolution in the United States. Competitors soon followed with the Civic-derived Honda CR-V and the Impreza-based Subaru Forester. Toyota later applied the same mechanical mash-up philosophy of midsize crossovers to the Lexus RX300 and the Toyota Highlander—both built on the versatile Camry platform used also by the Sienna minivan.

These early crossovers set the standard for providing drivers with an elevated ride height, flexible interior, and available all-wheel drive from an affordable, efficient vehicle with good ride manners. In the years that have followed, nearly every major automaker has built its own form of crossover vehicle, benefiting from drivetrain- and platform-sharing cost efficiencies.

Engineering Evolved

Traditional SUVs have body-on-frame construction, like pickup trucks, giving them rigid backbones capable of enduring the potentially abusive forces encountered by off-road driving and towing. Truth be told, most people don't brave trails extreme enough to warrant such heavy-duty hardware—this is true even for Hummer owners.

Crossovers are lower in weight by way of their unibody construction, which promises a solid, car-like structure, though compromises ultimate tow capacity. Another key distinction is the suspension. SUVs have, in the past, had relatively simplistic front strut/rear live-axle arrangements that were developed with bias toward work ability, rather than ride and handling. In recent years, more and more SUVs have been fitted with independent suspensions that make a noticeable improvement in road manners. As a rule, all crossovers are fitted with lightweight independent suspensions, capable of managing road and trail undulations with grace.

Manufacturers frequently offer comparable crossover and SUV models, giving shoppers more choices than ever before. Looking at Ford's product range, the Explorer and Freestyle satisfy very similar purposes, each offering third-row seating, available all-wheel drive, and notable safety features. Despite being several inches longer than the Ford Explorer, the Volvo S80-based Ford Freestyle is about 500 lbs lighter. With a more-supple suspension and nicely packaged interior, driving the Freestyle is much more pleasant than driving the Explorer. Further, it boasts a significant fuel economy advantage at 20/27 EPA city/highway, versus the Explorer at 15/21. Of course, there are more heavy-duty chores that the Explorer is more qualified for, but clearly the age of the crossover has arrived. There will be continued proliferation of this young vehicle form over the next few years as manufacturers drift further away from overly familiar shapes. Models like the Honda Element and Jeep Compass show that there may be more creative variations in the future, enabled by the cost-savings in development.

The traditional SUV will always have its place, but it is important for consumers to consider the attributes they truly need, and carefully weigh those that are non-essential wants when making a final decision. For many shoppers, a crossover can have fewer compromises than a true SUV.