2009 Mid-Size Luxury SUV

SUV, CUV

​            From once there was one, now there is two.  At one time there was only one mid-size SUV market, and now there is two.  Because of the demand for SUV’s over the last decade, the market has been expanding at a tremendous rate.  

​And now we have our own Luxury SUV segment.  Since the introduction of the Mercedes-Benz ML-Class, everyone seems to be creating luxury SUV’s.  Although this market has always been around, due to Land Rover and the Jeep Grand Cherokee, it has seen vast improvement and expansion over the last little while.  With the likes of BMW and Audi getting into the game, we now can see what everyone is capable at doing, off the beaten path.  And now it seems that even niche players want a piece of the pie.

​            This year’s winner is from a company that not many have heard about, or even seen.  It comes from the center of Europe, and is best known for blending old fighter jet styling, with boat like exteriors.  So for this we name the 2009 Spyker C8 Peking-to-Paris, the AutoLooks A+ winner.  This model may not be the world’s greatest design, but it is one of the world’s wildest designs, for an SUV ever conceptualized.  Blending a four-door coupe with an SUV is one of the greatest ideas of all time.  And leave it to Spyker to make this combination irresistible.  One could say that the chrome along the running boards is not a good fit, does not know what Spyker is known for doing.  It does not look good, but it does fit.  The only real change that should be made, is that the headlights should be made to look more aggressive.
            Now for our worst design, we had to give it to a vehicle that looks like it’s trying to be something its not.  It is trying to be more like its IS sibling than it should be.  So for that we name the 2009 Lexus LX the Rusty of the year.  It seems that Lexus is trying to build off of its IS design theme, for the rest of the models within the Lexus line.  Yes people do like the looks of the IS, but thy do not look good on an SUV.  The grille is oddly shaped, the headlights are pudgy and the front bumper looks like it is trying to escape the whole front end.

​Everett J.

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Mid-Size Luxury SUV Contenders:
 
A+         2009 Spyker                        C8 Peking-to-Paris
2nd       2009 Audi                            Q5
3rd        2009 Porsche                      Cayenne GTS
4th        2009 Mercedes-Benz          GLK
5th        2009 Acura                          MDX
Rusty    2009 Lexus                          LX