2009 Small SUV

2009 compact sUV & CUV design ratings

​            Well its no wonder why so many companies are changing their designs, or trying to get into the small SUV market.  Its still one of the fastest growing segments.  With a downturn in large SUV sales, the small SUV market seems to picking up.  Could it be that consumers 

with smaller families are starting to see that giant gas pigs are not good daily commuters.  Well, whatever the reason is, its nothing to frown about, unless you belong to an environmental group.  Although with more and more car based small SUV’s, fuel economy is improving at an all time high.  This is one market that has shown high growth in recent years and has seen many car only companies, enter it, in the hopes of some more market share within the automotive pie. ​

            It is kind of odd to think that our winner this year, was once well known for making cars, which looked like the boxes they came out of.  But with an ever increasing demand for sportier looking cars, it’s no wonder why this year’s winner came out on top.  So for this year the winner of the AutoLooks A+ award is the all new 2009 Volvo XC60.  Everything about this SUV seems to scream, I belong at the track, not at the grocery store.  It is one of the few SUV’s to take on the new sports car on a truck chassis, look, and pull it off perfectly.  The only odd part about this vehicle, is the front grille.  It seems that it should be tapered upwards, not downwards.  But when you consider that if this vehicle was designed ten years ago, it would look like a box on wheels, its no wonder why it takes the top prize.
            The oddest thing about this years Rusty winner, is that it looks better from the rear, than it does from the front.  When it comes to designing a vehicle, the front should always look better then the rear, considering your first impression comes from what it looks like coming at you, not leaving you.  So this year we had to name the 2009 Nissan Rogue the Rusty SUV of the year.  Although you spend more time looking at a vehicle from the back, when on a road, most people still like to see what it looks like from the front.  The Rogue is like looking at an attractive female from the front, but when she turns around, she’s butter faced (looks good “but-her-face”).

Everett J.

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Small SUV Contenders:
 
A+          2009 Volvo                           XC60
2nd        2009 Ford                             Kuga
3rd         2009 Volkswagen                Tiguan
4th         2009 Saturn                         Vue
5th         2009 Renault-Samsung      QM5
Rusty     2009 Nissan                         Rogue