When you consider the market of today automotive world we see there is a segment that has stormed the castle and taken over where sedans once ruled. This segment of the market is the crossover SUV segment and it now offers automakers the chance to do many things with their SUVs that have never been done before. Decades ago an SUV was much more utility than sport and were built based on truck platforms, but in today’s market we see most of the SUVs are of a unibody build and have gotten smaller than some of our sedans to be an active vehicle that is fun to drive but offers a bit more space and a higher ride.
Now that we have seen the sport side of the SUV market, what else could they do to this segment to make more changes than have already taken place? What we are starting to see is many manufacturers exploring the market to see just how far they can go. Land Rover has already created an SUV that is a convertible and only has two doors on it to be a coupe version of an SUV. What happened to SUVs being made for both utility and sport? It seems the manufactures got tired of boxes on wheels and we love them for making these changes.
Mazda has already teased photos of the new and upcoming CX-4 crossover SUV that appears to keep with the Koeru concept its built on. This SUV looks an awful lot like the CX-5 and that has something to do with the fact it’s based on the CX-5 but will be offered as a completely different type of SUV to see if the reception by the masses is enough to deem this crossover as one that should continue to be built.
One of the key features we normally associate with SUVs is the four doors. These vehicles were mostly made to replace the minivans of old and need to offer the space we need for the whole family, but that seems to have taken a backseat to getting as sporty as possible. The Mazda CX-4 will be proof of this change. This is an SUV that will come in coupe form, have only two doors and be the way Mazda is exploring the coupe style. This has already begun in China where the CX-4 will make its debut at the Beijing Motor Show at the end of the month.
What we expect to see under the hood of the CX-4 is a 2.2-liter diesel engine and a 2.0-liter and 2.5-liter gas engine to come later. This SUV will be set up in FWD but will have an option for AWD to make it a true SUV. Currently this is a vehicle that is expected to be sold in China only, but if the reception is strong enough you should expect to eventually see the CX-4 make its way to other markets including our own. Do you want a coupe-style crossover SUV, maybe we should wait until after the show to ask that question?
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