Is there a point of classifying "real suv's"?

'real' suvs will not go extinct as long as people choose to drive off the beaten path and tow their heavy toys while seating their family comfortably.

cuvs are really just station wagons but that term doesn't sell as many units as cuv does.

Cuvs is like fine wine
SUVs is like beer.

They will coexist as long as they are making trucks i think.

You forgot ford expedition and navigator, escalade, toyoya 4runner, sequioa, nissan armada/infiniti qx80 but gm dominates body on frame suv market as of now

Real SUVs matter to the people who actually use them to tow/haul/off road, so the answer to your question is YES, though it may not matter to you. Though I suspect if you were shopping for one you would want to know which was a real SUV because you'd want to avoid them for a CUV with better comfort, handling and MPG.

Depending on the profession or lifestyle, "real SUVs" will always have a place in the market. As a dad that lives in suburbia that has modest needs when it comes to towing and hauling, I'd rather drive a unibody Ridgeline vs. a body on frame truck/SUV.

It still matters because if you plan to use a traditional CUV as you would a traditional SUV...you're going to find the CUV suffering severe issues, their capabilities are still different. For what most people do with their vehicles, yes you probably don't need any of the strength of the traditional SUVs. A traditional SUV is very good at what they're built for, but when it comes to being commuter cars...they're mostly awful. The Wrangler and 4Runner are now the smallest traditional SUVs, I've driven both and both of them suck at the job of going from A to B versus most vehicles...even pickup trucks. My FRS is actually bad at dealing with rough or bumpy roads, but its a Rolls-Royce compared to a Wrangler on the same roads where I wonder if I'd bounce out without the seat belt. That said you look at their design and you can see the off-roading design cues, yes giant plastic knobs don't look good...but think about it if you're wearing gloves those giant knobs are suddenly brilliant and those touch buttons become the devil. The ground clearance, the underbody protection, the stronger axles, and so on, all these things matter for the things only SUVs and trucks can do.

The CUV, what many will call SUVs(including the automakers) is simply a car with an oversized body on stilts. As a road car, I would say they're better than the traditional SUVs since they're more comfortable and not as bad on fuel. You can certainly make them more luxurious too. Many however don't have the strength to haul much, a RAV4 for example is no better than a Corolla here. Some are stronger with some light towing in mind, but none can do more than 5000 lbs. That said I can't say much more, the CUV is a heavily compromised vehicle.

esoxhntr wrote: ↑ 'real' suvs will not go extinct as long as people choose to drive off the beaten path and tow their heavy toys while seating their family comfortably.

cuvs are really just station wagons but that term doesn't sell as many units as cuv does.

Station wagons can also lack the ever so important couple extra inches of ground clearance and AWD that CUV's come with standard for optimal urban (GTA) driving survival.
/s

Indeed. They are valid points.
I just think that since its becoming ever more obscure... CAn't all vehicles in this class be called "SUV's".
Because people looking for something with real towing and off-road capability will just look for an SUV with those features.

Its more so semantics... I find that specific classification helps a lot when there is lots of selection. But when less then 1% of the "SUV/CUV" market is the traditional sense of the "suv" (body on frame with 4x4), it seems kind of redundant.

Now the language has shifted to "cross over" I noticed... So it looks like the CUV term is being embraced b/c people actually want a more car like SUV. And not a gigantic honking Chevy Suburban.

in a lot of cases, there's very little in the way of Sport & Utility in many of these CUVs. So the monikor fits I believe.

Take a CRV for instance. With a 1500lb towing capacity, trunk space comparable to a sedan, low ground clearance and an optional AWD system that lacks the ability to lock the front to the rear differential and still leaves you with no low range.

Everything is right about that except for the trunk space, it is triple most sedans.

Blubbs wrote: ↑ Everything is right about that except for the trunk space, it is triple most sedans.

with the rear seats up?

many sedans can fold down the rear seats as well.

39 cubic feet with seats up.. they measure assuming you fill to the roof... sq feet of trunk floor would be a good measurement too IMO.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee is probably the original CUV success story, and it offers off road and towing capability to meet most needs at up to 7200lbs. It is unibody and has fwd only availability or atleast did..

frogger wrote: ↑ The Jeep Grand Cherokee is probably the original CUV success story, and it offers off road and towing capability to meet most needs at up to 7200lbs. It is unibody and has fwd only availability or atleast did..

I think you are thinking of the new regular cherokee? it is fwd but towing is nowhere near 7200lbs.

the Grand Cherokee was and is RWD biased AWD/4x4. There used to be a RWD only variant but not sure it still exists -- if it does, likely not for the Canadian market.

The GC kinda blurs the lines between SUV and CUV but i'd call it a SUV personally eventhough it is unibody. it checks all the other SUV boxes IMO.

the regular cherokee has become a CUV.

esoxhntr wrote: ↑ I think you are thinking of the new regular cherokee? it is fwd but towing is nowhere near 7200lbs.

the Grand Cherokee was and is RWD biased AWD/4x4. There used to be a RWD only variant but not sure it still exists -- if it does, likely not for the Canadian market.

The GC kinda blurs the lines between SUV and CUV but i'd call it a SUV personally eventhough it is unibody. it checks all the other SUV boxes IMO.

the regular cherokee has become a CUV.

+1, Grand Cherokee is a real off roading SUV. The new (non-Grand) Cherokee is just a rebadged FWD Fiat CUV.