Buying a new car is getting more and more expensive. Also a second hand car. The last few years have not been easy for the automobile market and, above all, for anyone thinking of changing their car. SUVs dominate the best-seller lists, we like them, and manufacturers meet the demand by creating more and more models that can be classified as SUVs or crossovers or even, for those that are not, try to use those types of traits in their design.
More than half of the new cars sold in Spain are SUVs. SUVs have become the fashionable body, from the most compact (22.9% of the market, according to ANFAC data from last year), to the medium-sized (29.8%), which have completely displaced traditional segments, attracting the buyer for its aesthetics, comfort (easy access on board due to its height), space (they usually have a good trunk and comfortable rear seats) and for the huge catalog of SUVs available to manufacturers, which They have been focusing and diversifying their range for some time in all kinds of all-road vehicles.
However, there is life beyond the SUV. And with this article we would like to contribute, at least, to the reflection of anyone who is considering the purchase of a new car, about the pros and cons of the different alternatives to the SUV that exist. Generalizing a lot about segments and categories that are increasingly blurred and in which it is increasingly difficult to catalog a vehicle. And providing the updated prices of some SUVs, and the different possible alternatives, at the time of writing this article.
Toyota Corolla.1. The SUVs in front of the 5 doors of a lifetime
Despite the advance of SUVs, one in three cars registered in Spain continue to have one of the most traditional bodies, that of the five-door segment B and C. In favor of the 5-door of a lifetime compared to the SUV, its price. They are still the cheapest option and you will usually find that a small SUV, from a lower segment (a B segment up to 4.2 meters in length), will have a price close to or even higher than that of a compact from a higher segment ( a segment C up to 4.4 meters).
For example, a Toyota Yaris Cross (4.18 meters) is priced at €24,925, while a Toyota Corolla (4.37 meters) starts at €24,650.
Against the 5 doors of a lifetime, that SUVs are usually more comfortable and accessiblebecause it enjoys higher access and proportions that maximize cargo space and offer more spacious and comfortable rear seats.
SEAT Leon ST.2. The station wagon, like the true anti-SUV
Comfort and space are usually the most common arguments used to defend the purchase of an SUV, although in practice we know that aesthetics is undoubtedly one of the most powerful arguments for deciding to buy any car – and not just an SUV. If what we are looking for is space and comfort, probably the relatives derived from utility and compact 5-doors are the perfect alternative to the SUV and those that are among the vehicles that offer more space with a tighter budget.
The great advantage of the family car over the SUV is that, normally, they are cheaper, or are positioned at similar prices, and offer a larger trunk.. A SEAT León ST starts at €24,350 with a 620-litre boot, compared to a SEAT Ateca that starts at €24,540 with a 510-litre boot.
Against the family in front of the SUV that there is not so much variety of products, especially in the small segment (segment B of Fiesta, Clio, 208). And, above all, that these family members are usually much longer than their SUV alternative. The Leon ST reaches 4.64 meters, compared to 4.36 meters for the Ateca. And a greater length in the environment of 20 or 30 centimeters, although it may seem little, can make a difference to maneuver comfortably in a garage or even for our car to enter the garage without protruding, or not. And let’s be honest, garages in Spain and a good part of Europe are not always designed for cars that exceed 4.5 meters in length.
Dacia Sandero (left) next to Dacia Sandero Stepway (right).3. SUV looks like… but it’s not
The success of SUVs has led to a no less interesting strategy. If we like SUVs, why not create 5-door passenger cars with SUV aesthetics? In this way, from the traditional segments, utility (Fiesta, Sandero) and compact (Focus, Tipo), crossover-type versions have emerged, with features typical of SUVs, such as black plastic protections on the underbody, wheel arches and bumpers and usually a bit more headroom. The great advantage of this kind of crossover, that they are generally cheaper than SUVs. The drawback, that they are more expensive than the tourism from which they are derived and, ultimately, they are not SUVs, they do not enjoy their space, their height, or their ability to leave the asphalt.
The paradigm of tourism that looks like an SUV but is not is called Dacia Sandero. For €13,040 you can buy a Sandero but for a little more, for €14,170, you can buy a Dacia Sandero Stepway. In fact, most of the sales of the Sandero range are taken by its Sandero Stepway version.
Mercedes class T.4. The real minivans
There was a time when the minivan was the fashionable car. Practical, spacious and economical. Until the SUV arrived. Today minivans, at least as we understood them until recently (C-MAX, Picasso, Scénic) are on the verge of extinction. Many, in fact, have already disappeared from the market. But they’re making a comeback with a kind of van-derived vehicle – commercial and industrial vehicles – that’s been refined and equipped to the point where it’s second to none to any car or SUV. The great advantage of these minivans, compared to the SUV, that we will hardly find so much space in another vehicle for that price.
You can buy a Mercedes T-Class for €28,062. For that price you will not find any other Mercedes-Benz, except for a Class A (much more expensive) which, obviously, has nothing to do with the Class T in terms of space and habitability. If what you want is an SUV, the cheapest you will find in the Mercedes-Benz range will be a GLA that exceeds €40,000.
The great disadvantage of these minivans compared to SUVs is that their image continues to be that of a van., no matter how much they enjoy increasingly attractive equipment and aesthetic details, and even versions with a “countryside” look. And, above all, that the minivans of yesteryear are disappearing, those products that, like C-MAX, Picasso and Scénic, offered us a minivan that had really been derived from a compact car.
Toyota Corolla Sedan.5. The sedan of a lifetime
There was a time when the vehicle that best reflected what they call status, and that most visually appealed to buyers, was the sedan. The great advantage of the sedan over the SUV usually resides in its good dynamics, they are comfortable cars, with a good boot, agile and fun to drive and, often, their prices are less than or similar to those of the SUV alternative. On the contrary, its trunk is not usually as accessible or usable as in an SUV and, as with family members, to get a comparable sedan, in the same segment, and with similar space as in an SUV, its length must necessarily be greater. .
A Toyota Corolla Sedan, for example, part of the €26,100while a Toyota Yaris Cross starts at €24,925a Toyota C-HR from €28,650 and a Toyota RAV4 from €39,950.
