Category: Sport Utility Vehicle

The Sport Utility Vehicle, or SUV, is one of the more controversial developments in the auto industry in the last 20 or so years. The original SUV is the jeep (not the brand, but the “General Purpose”, or “GP” vehicle that armies used in the early 20th century). After the wars, Willys (in the US) and Land Rover (in the UK) continued to make the vehicles, and they were (especially) popular with residents of rural areas because they were so versatile. As civilians have significantly different needs than the military, automakers began to create long wheelbase variations on the jeep theme which were more suitable for families. Many of the names of these vehicles will be familiar to many current SUV buyers: the first Chevrolet Suburban was released in 1935, and there was a wide proliferation of these vehicles in the 1960s, with the Jeep Wagoneer, the Ford Bronco, the Toyota Land Cruiser, and the Chevrolet Blazer/GMC Jimmy all being released. Right until near the end of the 20th century, station wagons (and minivans after the mid-80s) were the “utility vehicle” of suburbanites everywhere. However, in the early 1990s, the “family car” reputation of station wagons began to sit poorly with baby boomers, and many people bought SUVs to serve the same role, despite worse fuel economy and safety. Automakers were happy about this development, as it meant that more people were being drawn to higher-margin products. As the economy was doing extremely well, many people were eager to display their relative wealth, and the SUV became one of the major status symbols of the 1990s and early 2000s, with Cadillac and Lincoln releasing SUVs, and the Hummer moving from being a military vehicle to a civilian one.