European Roads Brace for Onslaught of Smaller SUVs

PARIS September 3, 2007; Marcel Michelson writing for Reuters reported already, big American-style four-by-fours are here. Soon, the roads of Europe will be dotted with smaller and medium-sized versions of the sports utility vehicle (SUV), one of the fastest-growing car segments.

Several car makers are taking small SUV models to the Frankfurt International Autoshow in mid-September, after rushing them out to match Toyota's popular RAV4, Land Rover's Freelander or Honda's CR-V.

But with increasingly vociferous resistance by civic groups against using big, gas-guzzling SUVs for daily urban trips, carmakers are trying to position the smaller versions as green vehicles.

For example, the recently launched Citroen C-Crosser is on sale only with frugal diesel engines with a particulate filter that would make many mainstream cars green with envy.

Other models in the sector to be unveiled in Frankfurt are the Volkswagen Tiguan and the Ford Kuga, which will have a hybrid diesel-electric engine.

While the first SUVs in the United States were like small trucks, Europe is more a market for the smaller SUVs.

The latest generation, those that will hit the roads this year, combines four-by-four drive and limited offroad capabilities with the handling of a passenger car.

Those include the Nissan Qasqai and the Renault Koleos, which is due in 2008.

Even to the uninitiated, the difference between the sturdy Land Rover Defender and an Audi Q7 or a Porsche Cayenne are obvious.

The last two are luxury vehicles with corresponding prices.

But in between these two ends of the market, a whole range of new models will vie for the family car buyers who want not only room for the children and a dog but also some, well, fun and style.

Jonathon Poskitt at J.D. Power Automotive Forecasting said that the market segment for SUVs could make up 10 percent of the European market by 2010.

"Rather than the full-size SUVs that we would associate with higher CO2 emissions, we expect the ongoing growth in the SUV body-type to come from smaller and medium sized SUVs where CO2 emissions would be much closer to their conventional car equivalents than the large models," he said.

J.D. Power put the SUV market at 1.5 million vehicles in Europe for 2007, or 8 percent of the total market of 18.3 million. Of this, 0.6 percent is for small SUVs, 2.4 percent for large ones and 5.3 percent for medium.

By 2010, the SUV segment is seen growing to 10.1 percent, with medium growing to 7 percent and large slipping to 2.2 percent.

Further out, J.D. Power sees the SUV segment at 11.2 percent by 2014, with medium-sized cars at 7.6 percent and the big ones at 2.0 percent. The total European new car market is then seen at 21.9 million vehicles.

GREEN PROTESTS

One of the smallest SUVs in Europe is the Suzuki SX4, which is built in Hungary and also sold as the Fiat Sedici (Italian for 16, or 4 times 4) and Lancia Pangea. But even the smaller ones provoke the ire of environmentalists.

"Almost every one of the 21 auto manufacturers now offer a 4x4 (SUV)," said Blake Ludwig, campaigns director at Britain's Alliance Against Urban 4x4s lobby group. He said the growth of the market was due to aggressive advertising by the industry.

"We also see more successful middle class people wanting to make a statement about aspiration and success, and unfortunately the SUV seems to be that emblem for many," he said.

While the smaller vehicles are more efficient than others, Ludwig said a 4x4 always has "a lethal combination of extra height, extra weight due to the poor design, sometimes extra width, larger and thirstier engine, as well as a decreased visibility through the rear window."

"We feel that if someone sincerely needs a 4 wheel drive vehicle then they should consider at the least one of the leaner 4x4s, such as the CRV, RAV4 or the Freelander," he said.

His Alliance has staged several actions with test dummies to draw attention to the safety risks of large 4x4 vehicles in school areas.

In France, the Les Degonfles ("deflated") action group slashed tyres of large 4x4 cars, leading to police arrests.

Greenpeace, which broadcast a commercial in Britain that depicted a SUV owner as an office outcast, wants to highlight the dangers and fuel consumption of SUVs and has high hopes of stricter EU fuel consumption rules.

"This is unsustainable technology," Greenpeace Germany official Guenter Haubmann said.

"We have to stop just adding weight, power and emissions to cars and we also have to stop the increasing militarization of the European roads," he said, referring to GM's Hummer or Spanish Uro vehicles which are based on army transporters.

"Of course there can be different car designs to serve different modes of automobility and a van can be useful to transport a family of seven. But in the end we need to make sure that we have cars that use as little resources as possible -- both in the manufacturing as in its use," Haubmann said.