July 24: What's next?

What is it?

If you pay any attention at all to the world of cars, you may have noticed a new trend. If you are a car guy like me, you've definitely noticed a new trend. This is a trend that I really like and applaud the companies for going in this direction. My wife and I just downsized by moving from our house into our new home, a condo. I guess you'd call it downsizing, even though the condo is 25% larger. What has been a trend in housing, as the kids move out, has come to the car market. And, what started with the luxury cars is moving to the lower priced brands.

Few folks really need a big honking suv and as their needs lessen, so do their desires for a less fuel efficient ride. But before we go too far down this road, the important bits have to stay.......the all wheel drive, the higher seating position and the practicality of the hatch. All the luxo brands, like Audi, BMW and Mercedes have introduced small suvs and Infiniti's entry is just a few months away. So, what is happening as this trend filters down to the more affordable vehicles?

Honda and Mazda have just intro'd their new entries, but we've heard nothing from some of the others. A look at what is available around the world, might give us an indication of what will be showing up in North America in the very near future.

Ford has started selling this little guy in China (or will be shortly). They say it won't come here, but surely with Chevrolet, Buick. Honda, Mazda and Jeep bringing out smaller suv's, can Ford afford to be far behind? This one could be North America bound...........

And Hyundai has the Creta in some other markets........

.......so why not let the fuss over the redesigned Tucson die down, then drop this little number into our market? I think we'll see it soon enough.

And VW is sure to follow, as this Taigun (where do they get those names?) concept shows........

This would come in below the Tiguan (those names again) and grab those folks who might otherwise be drawn to a Honda HR-V or Mazda CX-3. Looks production ready to me, so why not let it roll? German quality in a compact size.

Now you know, we don't get Suzuki here any more, but maybe someone could partner with them and sent this neat little crossover to us........

The way the different manufacturers work together, it should be easy to do. For example, until Chev gets its own little commercial van, it's selling a rebadged Nissan NV200. This surprised me, as I didn't think there was any connection here at all, but I guess immediate market needs can be met in a variety of ways.

See any mention of Toyota in this blog? Not so far, but you may be interested in seeing what they sell as a small crossover in their home market.........

Recognize it? This showed up here as a Scion not so long ago and it sure wasn't any Urban Cruiser over here. So what will Toyota respond with? Good question and you know that I'll be watching for it.

Now back to that pic at the beginning of this blog. Want a small suv? Want something a little out of the ordinary? Want something that I'm confident will never show up on our shores? Then go to Europe and buy a Smart car suv. Unusual, attractive and bound to be fuel efficient. Just another one of these smaller sport utes.

So you can now downsize with confidence, knowing that you have a plethora (I love that word) of choices, but if you want a few more, stay tuned..........

Until next time..............