Does Every Car Company Need an SUV in Their Lineup?

Back in the 1980's, Lamborghini built this brute, the LM002.  It was powered by a V12 developed for offshore power boats and its fuel consumption was measured in gallons per mile.  While off-road capable, it was hugely impractical, but proved to be a success just by its sheer audacity.  It was the last thing you expected out of a car company like Lamborghini... But then Lambo did make the Countach, which graced the walls of more boys' bedrooms than Farrah Fawcett, Christie Brinkley, and Joe Montana combined.



Fast forward to 2003 when Porsche launched their SUV, the Cayenne, causing the purists to howl louder than the collective roar of the air-cooled, flat 6 engines in their 911s.  Seeing how the company got its start building hot rod VW Beetles, a 5,000 lb SUV Porsche seemed asinine, but it paid off handsomely.  Not only is it the #1 selling vehicle in the Porsche lineup by a wide margin, it's also their most profitable vehicle.

Sales and profits.  It's the reason car makers are all rushing to build glorified trucks.  Earlier this year, Bentley announced it was producing an SUV.  Now this week Jaguar and Rolls Royce plan to do the same.

 
But does every car company need to build an SUV?  Is there really a demand for a four wheel drive Rolls or a Bentley that's really a tarted up Audi Q7?  Are the Real Housewives of the world going to discard their Cadillac Escalates and Range Rovers for a Bentley on stilts?  Are soccer moms in the mid-west going to trade in their Honda Pilots on a Range Rover based Jag?  Or is the SUV arms race the next housing bubble?



Not every car company strikes gold with an SUV.  For every Volvo XC90, there's a Saab 9-7x, which did nothing for Saab and only proved how shameless GM was at badge engineering mediocre vehicles.  Thankfully, when GM pulled the plug on Saab, the 9-7x was the first to go.



The only thing worse than a Saab version of the GMC Envoy is a Lincoln pick up truck.  

The $15,000 Question: Acura TSX

Honda probably sells ten Accords for every one Acura TSX in the United States.  But ironically, the Acura TSX IS the Honda Accord in other parts of the world.



Still, if you're looking for a leaner, sharper Honda sedan, one with a the rev-happy 2.4 liter VTEC engine from the S2000 roadster, but don't care for the boy racer Civic with its split instrument panel, you're in luck.

I always felt the 200-2012 Honda Accord was a little too ponderous, especially compared to the 1996 Accord I owned back in the 1990's.  That Accord, with it's high revving four cylinder and precise 5-speed manual gear box, always felt more like a poor man's BMW to me.  Similarly equipped, the Acura TSX has that same precision and feels like a direct decendant to the old Accord.

Is Kia the New Honda?

Ten to twenty years ago, all my friends, and many family members drove Hondas.  It seems everyone had an Accord or Civic.  When they got married, they traded those Accords and Civics on Odysseys and Pilots.  When their kids began to drive, they learned in Accords and Civics, beginning the cycle anew again.  But lately those same people have started moving on from Hondas to something that starts with the letter 'K'.    


So it makes me wonder:  Is Kia the new Honda?

I know there's some debate about the longevity of Kia products, and the Forte and Optima haven't yet mastered that perfect mix of ride and handling like the Civic and Accord.  But from a function, utility, and value standpoint, Kia has checked all the boxes.  And to my eye, Kia has got their styling right.



The Kia Sorento is much more attractive than the Honda Pilot.  Same goes for the Optima, Forte, and Sportage, which are better looking than the Accord, Civic, and CR-V.  The new Kias have a sense of premium style, which is intentional since they lured Peter Schreyer away from Audi.  When I look at the current Pilot, I feel like Honda just phoned it in.  It looks like it was inspired by a refrigerator box.  The impression of phoning it in is further highlighted by the last two generations of Accords, which were described as "Buick like" by several car magazines, during a time when Buick was catering to the over-50 set.  It culminated with the dismal 2012 Civic, which was bad enough for Consumer Reports to take it off its recommended list, stating it was much worse than the car it replaced, and forcing Honda to scramble to introduce a refreshed version a year later.

But Honda's missteps aren't the only reason Kia has been successful as of late.  Once known as a cheap car of last resort, Kias now boast attractive styling and good value.  Bottom line, the company is building good cars that can stand on their own merits.



When you build a good car, one with features people want, that is attractively styled, a good value and a sell it at a good price, people will come.