we've hit a Cross-Trek in our path.

Have Cross-Treks the next wave?

​    It only starts with one company, then soon everyone seems to be jumping in.  That is how it has always been as we have seen when it comes to the market.  Everyone is scared to jump in, but once one model takes off in sales, then it seems that everyone wants a piece of that new market.  We have seen this happen to every segment since the entry of the official sedan back at the turn of the century.

    As it seems that every segment imaginable today has been entered, there are always other possibilities.  Like the introduction of the coupe profile to both the sedan and CUV market.  Both have gone different ways in the past few years, but unlike these segments, one seems to be growing ever so slightly.

    The Cross-Trek or Trekking market has been around for a long time and can date itself back to the 70's.  But even as it has been around for a long time, it has never really gotten any major exposure, or credit for being an ever changing and growing marketplace.  But with the slow demise of the standard sedan and hatch and the rise of the CUV market, it seems to be growing yet again.
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    This year alone we can welcome nine (9) hew or updated models this segment, which means it beats out both the coupe and convertible segments.  Sure thanks to the introduction of the coupe profile, the coupe and convertible markets have been sliding, but now you can add in the fact that most consumers don't want individual traveling machines.  With this shift in consumer mentality it seems that the Cross-Trek is finally getting noticed.  Well that and the rise of the soft road CUV market.

   So what really is a Cross-Trek model?  It is made up of two basic components.  One being a current platform and the other being the introduction of an AWD system to the existing platform.  Sure Audi made the Quattro back in the 80's and Subaru has always had AWD, but today it seems that no one can along with their personal vehicle unless it has AWD.  This as it seems to be the new fad just like how FWD became popular in the late 80's.  So again why the rise in models and sales.  Well for the most part, most major automakers are trying to find new ways to squeeze every penny they can out of every model.  And with that you get Cross-Trek models as they are an easy way to command a higher sticker price.
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Listen to the podcast here: Rise of the Cross-Treks

    But again we also have to look back at what we said earlier, as consumers want all models with the option of soft road capability and AWD for safety.  So why not add an existing CUV under carriage to a base hatchback, you would be stupid not to.
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   So even though this market has been around for more than four (4) decades, it doesn't seem that it's about to go away anytime soon.  Of course that could change when consumers realize that they don't need AWD or soft road capabilities when they live in a city of asphalt and concrete and the only dirt they ever see is from a construction site.  But really do you think the average consumer would be smart enough to figure that out, when there are still people who drive Suburbans and only have one child.

Everett J.
#AutoLooks, @icsts88, AutoLooks.net