The SUV Keeps On Evolving
The sport-utility vehicle evolved across 50 years from a stripped-down World War II Jeep into a high-riding 1990s status symbol. Now the SUV is heading in a new direction -- in fact, several new directions.
With demand for "traditional" SUVs, such as the Ford Explorer or the Chevrolet Tahoe, leveling off or declining in the face of higher fuel prices, auto makers are road-testing a wide variety of concepts for a new generation of multipurpose vehicles. Some, like the seven-seat 2006 Subaru B9X, are designed to carry six or seven people without looking too much like a minivan. Others, like the Mercedes R-Class, look like luxury station wagons on steroids. And still others, like the Acura RD-X, are compact vehicles that appear to be sports cars with backpacks.
World War II Jeep: the original off-roader.
"Clearly the oil-and-gas situation has had an impact on big SUVs," says Ford Motor Co. Vice President Steve Lyons . That's why Ford is working on a variety of new "crossovers," such as the recently launched Freestyle wagon, that are SUVs built on the underpinnings of more fuel-efficient cars. "Customers might trade out of an Explorer into a Freestyle. That works for us," he says.
While these new-generation SUVs look different, they have the same aim, which is to profit from consumers who like the roominess, functionality and cargo-carrying capability of an SUV or minivan, but who don't want to be seen in a traditional SUV or minivan.
Paul Halata, president of DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes-Benz USA unit, says the R-Class and a smaller crossover that will be called the B-Class are part of a renewed effort by Mercedes to regain market share in the luxury-SUV business.
The coming Mercedes R-Class: a 21st-century 'sports tourer'
The R-Class, he says, is aimed at "customers who want a car-like ride" but who want to be able to accommodate three couples in one vehicle. In that way, the R-Class is designed to perform the same function as the Chrysler Pacifica, a big crossover wagon designed by DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler unit. But Mr. Halata says the R-Class will be distinct from the Pacifica, starting with the price tag. The Pacifica starts at about $25,000. The Mercedes will likely cost nearly twice that much.
Many of the new production-ready and concept SUVs aren't big, reflecting a shift in the market toward smaller SUVs. Honda Motor Co.'s Acura RD-X, which is being shown at this week's North American International Auto Show in Detroit, is a lightly disguised show version of a compact luxury SUV that would compete with existing models such as the BMW X3.
The Ford Explorer: King of the SUV hill in the 1990s but now fading
In pictures, the RD-X looks like the offspring of a sports car and a small station wagon with Honda's "Super Handling All-Wheel Drive" system that varies the driving force between the front and rear wheels, and side to side between the two rear wheels to improve road handling.
"It's a new generation of the SUV aimed at 30-somethings that are active and prefer a hard, sporty ride," says a Honda spokesman. "Families and children were not in our mind when we designed this vehicle."
General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet brand last week officially unveiled in Los Angeles the production version of a new compact wagon called the Chevrolet HHR, which GM says is modeled after a 1940s Chevrolet Suburban. The HHR's compact size and retro looks will draw comparisons to Chrysler's PT Cruiser wagon.
The burst of category-bending vehicles reflects the industry's intensifying search for the sweet spot between minivans, truck-SUVs and sedans -- particularly in luxury brands and price ranges. There is definitely a market for luxury people carriers, says Wes Brown of the market-research firm Iceology. "People don't want to drive minivans. And luxury buyers are tiring of SUVs."
Last year, growth in sales of "crossover SUVs" outpaced the growth of SUVs based on truck underpinnings. Currently, the most successful of these crossover vehicles have the brawny front ends and square profiles of a conventional SUV but are sedans or minivans under the skin. Among the more popular crossovers are the Ford Escape, Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus RX330 and the Honda Pilot.
The Ford Fairlane: a concept vehicle pointing to a post-SUV future
But industry designers now are pushing crossover SUV styling in new directions. Ford, maker of the U.S. market's best-selling traditional SUV, the Explorer, is using this week's auto show in Detroit to display three diverse takes on where SUVs could go next, led by a show vehicle called the Ford Fairlane (a name taken from a Ford sedan of the past).
Ford design chief J Mays says the Fairlane is designed to appeal to consumers who want a vehicle that carries six passengers but doesn't ride and handle like a truck and "doesn't smell like diapers."
The Fairlane combines elements of a 1930s wood-sided station wagon, a minivan and a luxury SUV. The show vehicle has a three-way tailgate, a feature Ford wagons offered in the 1960s. The vehicle's top is covered with a cloth Mr. Mays says is close to the material used on a polo helmet. The Fairlane's interior has the minimalist but warm look of a midcentury modernist home. The wood in the dashboard is unfinished plywood. The front seats are leather, but the rear seats are more affordable cloth. And arm rests in the second row of seats are made to look like painted wicker.
Mr. Mays says the Fairlane is designed to appeal to American consumers who want more luxury but are looking at the same time for a "slightly more contemporary lifestyle than a generation before them."
The Lexus RX300: a first generation 'crossover' SUV from Toyota
"Where our parents might have gone and stayed at a really nice Ritz and something quite traditional," Mr. Mays says, today's mainstream consumers prefer a place like the W, a hotel whose design esthetic is less ornate. Ford is not going after "the cold, elitist black-wearing crowd" with the Fairlane, Mr. Mays says. Rather, it is targeting a growing group of consumers who are looking for "a vehicle that has absolutely traditional values done in a contemporary way." His imagined customers: a well-off family heading off for a picnic in the Hamptons.
Also part of that target market, he says, is a small but growing cadre of consumers who subscribe to magazines like Dwell that celebrate clean, unadorned design as an antidote to suburban McMansions and hulking SUVs.
Mr. Mays says Ford designers concluded that a next-generation people mover "should not look like a minivan, and it certainly should not be an SUV. Both of those vehicles have some negative baggage tied to them."
While Ford hasn't decided to build the Fairlane, Mr. Mays says the concept is one the company is taking seriously, in contrast to a playful Ford new-generation SUV concept, the SYN/us. This is a miniwagon designed to be, in Mr. Mays's words, "an urban sanctuary." Among its amenities: a 45-inch LCD television screen in the tailgate and bulletproof glass.
永不停步的SUV
自从第二次世界大战期间第一辆吉普车应军方的需要诞生以来，运动型多用途车(SUV)已走过了50多年的发展历程，到上世纪九十年代时，SUV还成为一种高贵身份的象征。眼下，SUV的车型正朝著新的方向发展，或者说，正呈现出多样化的风格。
随著油价高企，对传统型SUV如福特的Explorer或者雪佛兰的Tahoe的需求已趋于稳定甚至逐渐下滑，制造商们开始试制各种不同概念的新一代多用途车，或所谓混合型车。比如，7座的2006款Subaru B9X等车型既能容纳6-7人乘坐，而外形又不至于太像微型客货两用车。另外一些新车型如梅塞德斯的R-Class，外形看上去很像豪华型的加长旅行轿车。还有一些车型，比如紧凑型的本田Acura RD-X，就像是带有后备箱的运动型车。
福特公司(Ford Motor Co.)副总裁里昂(Steve Lyons)说，很明显，油价对大型SUV市场很有影响。面对这种局面，福特开始研制各种混合多种风格的新车型，如近期推出的Freestyle轿车，这是一款在节能轿车基础上发展构思出来的SUV。他说，顾客可能会卖掉Explorer，换上Freestyle，这正合我们的心意。
尽管这些新一代SUV看上去各不相同，但它们瞄准的都是同一类顾客群，也就是那些喜欢SUV空间宽敞、功能强大且能载货，但又不希望车的外形和传统的SUV或客货两用车有所区别的消费者。
戴姆勒克莱斯勒(DaimlerChrysler AG)旗下梅塞德斯-奔驰美国子公司总裁哈拉塔(Paul Halata)说，为了夺回豪华型SUV市场失去的领地，他们正在开发新车型，目前已推出了R-Class，并且还将推出名为B-Class的另一款更小型的混合型SUV。
他说，R-Class是为喜欢轿车的驾乘感受、但同时又希望一辆车内能坐下三对夫妇的人士设计的。为此，R-Class在功能上与戴姆勒克莱斯勒的克莱斯勒子公司设计的Chrysler Pacifica混合车型是相同的，但R-Class与Pacifica又有明显不同，首先是价格悬殊很大。Pacifica的起价是25,000美元左右，而R-Class可能接近这个数的两倍。
许多新的可投产车型或概念车型外形不大，反映出SUV市场正向小型化方向发展。在本周的底特律北美国际车展上展出的本田公司(Honda Motor Co.)的Acura RD-X是一款紧凑型豪华车型，这次专为展览稍微进行了改装。
从图片上看，RD-X像运动型车和小型加长旅行车的混合体，它配备了本田的四轮驱动系统，这种系统能让车的前后轮获得不同的驱动力，并改变两个后轮的驱动力，从而提高了应对不同路况的能力。
本田公司发言人说，这款新车主要面向三十多岁的精力充沛、驾驶时喜欢强烈运动感的人士。在设计这款车时家庭和儿童不是考虑对象。
通用汽车(General Motors Corp.)的雪佛兰品牌上周在洛杉矶正式推出了Chevrolet HHR的投产车型，这是一款新型紧凑型轿车，据通用说，其设计模仿了雪佛兰上世纪四十年代推出的Chevrolet Suburban。其车体尺寸和怀旧外观会使人忍不住将其与雪佛兰的PT Cruiser轿车作一对比。
将多种风格融于一身的新车研发热潮反映出汽车业正在客货两用车、卡车-SUV混合车和高档轿车之间，特别是从豪华品牌和不同价位区间中寻找卖点。
市场研究公司Iceology的布朗(Wes Brown)说，豪华型载客车肯定会有一定的市场。人们都不喜欢驾驶客货车，而生活富裕的买家对传统的SUV也厌倦了。
去年，混合型SUV的销售增长幅度超过了偏重载货功能的传统SUV。目前，这些混合型车当中，最受欢迎的车型都像传统型SUV一样车头线条粗旷、车身方方正正，而藏在外形下面的却是类似高级轿车或客货车的功能和享受。最成功的混合型SUV车中包括福特的Escape、丰田的Lexus RX330和本田的Pilot。
但是，现在设计界正在将混合型SUV的设计推向一种新的高度。制造了美国最畅销的传统型SUV──Explorer的福特公司在本周的底特律车展上展示了三款不同风格的概念车，其中的一款参展车型称为Ford Fairlane，福特以前曾有一款同名轿车。
福特首席设计师麦斯(J Mays)说，Fairlane的销售对象是那些希望车子能坐下6位乘客、不喜欢像开卡车般的驾驭感而且车厢里面散发著怪味的消费者。
Fairlane糅合了上世纪三十年代厢式轿车以及微型客货车和豪华型SUV的特点。展出的样板车有一个三向尾门，这是福特六十年代轿车的一个特点。车顶覆有一层布料，据麦斯说，其质地与马球运动员的头盔采用的布料一样。Fairlane的车厢兼具简朴和温馨的特点，集复古及现代特色于一身。烟灰缸用只经过粗加工的胶合板制成。前排座位是皮革材料的，而后排座采用的是价格较便宜的布料。第二排座位的扶手看上去就像是染了色的柳条。
麦斯表示，Fairlane的目标顾客是追求比较奢华的生活，但同时也希望生活方式比上一代美国人更富现代色彩的消费者。
麦斯说，我们的父辈可能喜欢待在一家像里兹(Ritz)那样的舒适而又非常传统风格的酒店里，而今天的主流消费者则更喜欢W这样的酒店，它在设计风格上少了那种浮华的气息。麦斯说，福特的新款Fairlane也是这样，它摆脱了精英主义冷漠、傲慢的形象。
这款车瞄准的是正在日益壮大的消费群，他们希望拥有一辆以现代风格阐释纯粹传统价值的车。他想像的目标消费群是：准备去纽约长岛渡假胜地汉普敦野餐的富裕之家。
其目标市场的另一部分顾客是人数不多但正在增长的核心消费者，他们会订阅Dwell这样鼓吹简洁而朴素的设计风格的杂志，排斥郊区到处可见的风格雷同的所谓McMansion式建筑和笨重的SUV。
麦斯说，福特的设计师们得出结论，下一代代步工具应该不会像客货车，肯定也不应该是SUV。这两类车都有一些明显的缺点。
麦斯说，尽管福特还未决定是否投产Fairlane，但与福特的一款更有趣的新一代SUV概念车SYN/us相比，福特对Fairlane的设计理念非常看重。用麦斯的话来说，SYN/us这款小型轿车的设计目标是成为“城市里的避难所”：车窗采用了防弹玻璃，而车内尾门上还装了一台45英寸液晶电视。
