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Lotus and Smart are new members of the SUV club. In early April, the British sports car brand presented the Eletre, its first SUV. Also in April, Smart revealed the #1, a B-segment SUV that should rival the Mini Countryman. These products were in response to the boom in SUV sales that had driven the growth of automakers since the 2000s.
Because these vehicles are typically priced higher for consumers while being based on a shared platform for other models, automakers stand to make higher profits. The formula is quite simple: develop one platform and then build a different body type, with the SUV at the highest point in the price structure. The price difference is quite significant, according to data from JATO Dynamics.
In Italy, for example, B-segment SUVs are 35 percent more expensive than similar cars. This gap drops to 11 percent in the luxury F-segment. On average, SUVs are 33 percent more expensive than cars in all segments. Based on this, it is quite easy to understand why almost every leading car manufacturer in the world builds at least one SUV.
Almost, But Not All
However, there are still some brands that have not been tempted by the allure of SUV profits. Some of them are not interested because it is not part of their brand DNA. Others have no resources. And for some, plans for an SUV are already in the works.
Starting spring 2022, you won’t find SUVs in these 11 brands: Abarth, Alpine, Bugatti, Chrysler, Ferrari, Lancia, Lucid, McLaren, Pagani, Polestar and Ram. The list does not include specialty companies such as Caterham, Morgan, Dallara, Rimac, Koenigsegg and others.
In the case of Alpine, Ferrari and Polestar, an SUV is expected to arrive within the next two years. In fact, the Ferrari Purosangue will be revealed in the coming months. Perhaps with the exception of Ferrari, these brands need SUVs to gain more traction as a relatively new company.
Chrysler recently unveiled its Airflow concept, which blurs the already blurred lines between SUVs, crossovers, and hatchbacks, but production versions are years away. While the Abarth doesn’t technically have an SUV you can buy right now, the Pulse Abarth from Fiat was recently launched for South America and will go on sale later this year.
Others such as Bugatti, McLaren and Pagani are recognized as supercar brands where SUVs may not yet be a priority. However, this could certainly change if the Ferrari Purosangue proves a success for the Maranello company – and does no harm to the brand’s image. Surprisingly, Ram is the sixth largest brand by sales under the Stellantis umbrella, but the focus is on its pickup trucks and commercial vehicles.
Lucid has just started its journey as an independent brand with its Air electric sedan, but the second step is an SUV. Lancia is craving more products, but the product planning presentation so far has not mentioned an SUV in its future lineup.
The article’s author, Felipe Munoz, is an Automotive Industry Specialist at JATO dynamics.
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