The best selling crossovers in the U.S.include the No. 1 Ford Escape at 153,000 units, also number one in Canada, plus the Honda
CR-V at136,000 units, the Toyota Highlander at 126,000 units, the Honda Pilotat 125,000 units and the Chevrolet Equinox at 121,000 units. Whileforeign automakers introduced many of the early CUVs, the domestic BigThree have seen double digit increases in their crossover sales as newmodels have come out.
Ford's CUV sales increased by 32 percentto 300,000 units during this past year, Pipas said. Meanwhile, GeneralMotors has seen its crossover sales rise by 28 percent to 324,000units, and DaimlerChrysler's climbed by 26 percent to 259,000 units. Bycontrast, Honda's CUV sales have only bumped up 3 percent to 365,000units, and Toyota also saw a 3 percent rise to 288,000 units.
"So,
CUV sales will be fueled by the fact that consumers have far morechoices to choose from," Pipas said. "By comparison, the number of SUVmodels peaked at 50 in 2000."
Since that time, a number oftruck-based SUVs have been cancelled, such as the Ford Excursion andthe original Lincoln Aviator, so there are only about 40 models stillavailable on the market.
Incidentally, a new Aviator CUV,based on the Ford Fusion platform, will be replacing Lincoln's smallsport-ute for the 2007 model year, while a spin-off wearing a blue-ovalbadge, dubbed Edge, will complement the larger Freestyle. Both willintegrate Ford's all-new 250-horsepower 3.5-litre V6 and equally newsix-speed automatic transmission.
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| The best selling crossover in the U.S. is the Ford Escape at 153,000 units, also number one in Canada, now available with a gasoline-electric hybrid drivetrain. (Photo: Ford Motor Company of Canada) |
Ford's CUV sales increased by 32 percentto 300,000 units during this past year, Pipas said. Meanwhile, GeneralMotors has seen its crossover sales rise by 28 percent to 324,000units, and DaimlerChrysler's climbed by 26 percent to 259,000 units. Bycontrast, Honda's CUV sales have only bumped up 3 percent to 365,000units, and Toyota also saw a 3 percent rise to 288,000 units.
"So,
 |
| A new Aviator CUV, based on the Ford Fusion platform, will be replacing Lincoln's small sport-ute for the 2007 model year. (Photo: Ford Motor Company of Canada) |
Since that time, a number oftruck-based SUVs have been cancelled, such as the Ford Excursion andthe original Lincoln Aviator, so there are only about 40 models stillavailable on the market.
Incidentally, a new Aviator CUV,based on the Ford Fusion platform, will be replacing Lincoln's smallsport-ute for the 2007 model year, while a spin-off wearing a blue-ovalbadge, dubbed Edge, will complement the larger Freestyle. Both willintegrate Ford's all-new 250-horsepower 3.5-litre V6 and equally newsix-speed automatic transmission.