But the real action is still in what has historically been called the compact SUV segment, though that name seems less relevant with every new model launch. Explorer is bigger than ever, and so are the Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy and Oldsmobile Bravada.
At the same time, new players on the market – including Buick with the Rendezvous, Toyota with the Highlander, and Acura with the MDX – have brought out substantial vehicles.
Following suit, the sport-cutes that are smaller than the compact SUVs are getting bigger when they're redesigned, as the new Toyota RAV-4 proves. And Suzuki has stretched a Grand Vitara into the long, narrow XL-7 and hopes to slip it into the space between sport-cute and compact SUV. Into the sport-cutes place will roll such vehicles as the Pontiac Vibe and Toyota Matrix, which are station wagons in boots.
What is essentially happening here is a return to the high-roofed vehicles that ruled the road in the 1930s and 1940s. While it's largely a generational thing lead by Boomers, the basic charms of such vehicles also seem to speak quite clearly to older and younger buyers.
Perhaps no greater proof of the strength and longevity of the SUV industry can be offered than to point out that young people find them attractive enough to overcome the double-barreled handicap of being cars that their parents and other Boomers like.