As SUVs continue to break sales records across Europe, Fleet World’s editor-at-large Alex Grant reckons it’s time to reset the driver stereotypes and consider the upshots of booming demand.

Fleet World editor-at-large Alex Grant reckons it’s time to reset the driver stereotypes on SUVs

From business workhorses to pampered projects, few consumer products attract the same level of stereotyping as cars – and fleets are certainly not immune. Extroverted futuristic styling and leaf-covered graphics were a staple of early fleet plug-ins, as a public statement of operators’ environmental considerations. But, as electrification becomes increasingly ‘normal’, some of the most popular newcomers have become fair game for negative stereotypes too.

Maligned by car enthusiasts and loathed by climate activists, SUVs – and SUV negativity – were back in the mainstream press recently after scores of drivers woke up to deflated tyres, singling out their vehicles as a threat to the environment. This is activism rooted in a very real need for change as we wake up to the climate emergency – I’m not belittling those concerns – but stereotyping that also resulted in several electric cars being ‘disarmed’ feels counterproductive.

Part of the problem here is that ‘SUV’ now covers such a broad church that the term is almost meaningless. According to JATO, these vehicles took a record 45.5% share of European vehicle registrations in 2021, but mainstream coverage usually stops short of explaining that this includes everything from the Vauxhall Mokka to a long-wheelbase Range Rover. If we’re lumping that sort of diversity together, then non-ruggedised vehicles – whether that’s a Corsa or a Rolls-Royce Phantom – are still the bigger market segment.

Of course, JATO does dig deeper. Its data shows more than 80% of that SUV market is ‘small’ or ‘compact’ SUVs (think Ford Puma and Nissan Qashqai), the vast majority of which are two-wheel drive replacements for similarly sized, and similarly aerodynamically challenged, MPVs. Minivans attract stereotypes too – one designer told me their outgoing product had the look of a family where the parents slept in separate beds – but they don’t tend to be linked with a reckless attitude to climate damage.

Meaningless terminology also leads to scapegoating. The IEA recently calculated that the world’s SUVs, as a country, would be the sixth-largest global emitter of CO2. They’re also often cited as a cause of Europe’s average new car CO2 emissions rising during the late 2010s, ignoring the perfect storm manufacturers faced at the time. Within five years, diesel rapidly fell out of favour, WLTP-derived ‘NEDC Correlated’ figures caused overnight CO2 rises, and Real Driving Emissions (RDE) compliance affected efficiency too. There’s more than one factor at fault.

Besides, SUVs now often spearhead manufacturers’ electric line-ups and generous incentives mean it’s advantageous for drivers to opt into company car and salary sacrifice schemes instead of using older, dirtier vehicles. Today’s ‘Mondeo Man’ is more likely to be a ‘Kuga Chap’ – in fact, Ford sold almost twice as many Mustang Mach-E SUVs in Europe last year (23,424) as it did Mondeos (12,584).

That popularity is hardly surprising, considering how well SUVs work as a family car. Fashions aside, an SUV typically occupies less of the road than an estate, and (talking from experience) the raised seating position and roofline is easier for getting small kids and elderly relatives in and out. Treating SUV drivers as a homogenous group of climate vandals risks penalising families who need the space they provide, while overlooking the single-occupant executive saloon they’re parked next to.

I’m not advocating SUVs for everyone. Far from it. There are legitimate questions to be asked about heavy, oversized cars of all body types as we move towards net zero. However, if SUV practicality and plug-in tax appeal are luring drivers towards battery power, then it’s time to reset the gas guzzler stereotypes and consider the bigger picture. Extroverted styling and leafy graphics don’t suit everyone, after all.