SUVs Squeeze Out the Traditional Family Car
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- SUVs make up 30% of all cars on the road and accounted for 50% of new car sales in rich countries in 2023, according to the piece.
- Volvo, once the defining family car brand, now sells only SUVs in the UK, eliminating traditional family body styles from the brand's lineup.
- SUVs widen by approximately 0.5cm each year, and their taller bonnets make children three times more likely to be killed if struck compared to a conventional vehicle, the article reports.
- Transport writer Christian Wolmar observes that the elevated SUV driving position makes children ahead less visible, increasing the likelihood of a collision.
- The author spent a month visiting showrooms and found that rejecting SUVs still resulted in being shown SUVs of varying sizes, including a Lexus RX450H she mistook for a hearse.
- The author has reluctantly booked an SUV test drive despite wanting an estate, saloon, or hatchback safe enough for children and fuel-efficient for family use.
Why it matters: The safety case the car lobby uses to sell SUVs — fortress-like protection for children — is undercut by the same vehicles' physical dimensions: their tall bonnets triple pedestrian fatality risk for children they strike. With Volvo's UK lineup now entirely SUVs and half of new car sales in rich countries already SUVs, parents seeking a smaller, cheaper, safer family car face a shrinking market.
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