Does the name ‘SUV’ matter?
The Kia Picanto X Line is not an SUV, it is a car with ‘‘some SUV style’’. But what is an SUV these days and should we even care, asks Damien O’Carroll.
To its eternal credit Kia never refers to the Picanto X Line as an SUV. It uses the phrase ‘‘add some SUV style’’ when describing it on the local website, which is possibly the most refreshingly honest description of a car like this anywhere in the world.
While it does boast some obviously SUV-style hints to its exterior and a small lift in ride height (and, again, in a burst of remarkable honesty, Kia merely says that it ‘‘rides a little higher than other models’’), the Picanto X Line is literally in no way a ‘‘proper’’ SUV.
Hell, it’s barely a proper car in modern terms – while most of it is actually quite good, the fact that the engine is blighted by an archaic four-speed automatic transmission means that it is a car out of step with modern times. A six-speed auto is really the budget option these days so a four-speeder is just an insult.
That said, the rest of the Picanto is a decent effort, with an eager little engine and a pleasantly-sorted chassis, nicely accurate steering and a more than acceptable ride for such a small thing.
The X Line exterior SUV additions are hilarious, both in their sheer inappropriateness and their ability to transform the Picanto into a truly charming thing similar to a small puppy puffed up with misguided confidence and disproportionate bravado.
Seriously, look at it – it is adorable. Its tough 4X4 stance that has literally nothing to back it up, the ridiculously fun lime-green/ yellow highlighter accents, the fake underbody protection – all hilariously misplaced and utterly loveable. It is almost enough to make me forgive the transmission. Almost.
And it is that sheer adorability that means baby SUVs are something every car manufacturer wants in its lineup these days.
Tiny cars with SUV styling cues, mildly jacked-up ride heights and cute-as-a-button feigned toughness are perfect for urban dwellers who want the look of an SUV but need the practicality of a small city hatch.
But they are vehicles that ask more questions than they answer, particularly about what they actually are. And, beyond that, are any of the vehicles we refer to as SUVs really SUVs?
And, most of all, does it actually matter?
The answer to that one is; of course it doesn’t. We buy the cars we want or need, regardless of whether it is referred to as an SUV, SAV, XUV or SAC, all things that are categorised as SUVs by the MIA or are referred to as by their respective manufacturers.
By one of its traditional definitions (and the most commonly accepted one), an SUV – or Sports Utility Vehicle – is a station wagon-like vehicle built on a light truck ladder chassis that has 4WD and off road capability.
This counts out the vast majority of vehicles that are sold in the SUV segment straight away, but again: does it actually matter?
Why is it that whenever we run an article on something sold in the SUV segment we get an avalanche of comments angrily pointing out that something isn’t an SUV because it doesn’t conform to the strict, very old definition of the term?
The sticking point would appear to mainly be 4WD and, by association, actual off-road ability. But language evolves – it always has and continues to do so – and the term SUV has simply evolved into something else, something that doesn’t necessarily intimate 4WD or off-road ability any more, largely via a combination of marketing spin and a natural desire for simplicity.
The marketers saw advantage in selling the rugged image of an SUV in a conventional car dressed up to look like one, while it was also simply far more convenient for industry associations and other official bodies to lump them all into a single classification to avoid myriad similar but slightly different categories.
And, of course, we have to remember that ‘‘Sports Utility Vehicle’’ was only ever a vague marketing term in the first place.
So now we have something like a Suzuki Ignis (that has 4WD in some markets, but not ours) technically classified as an SUV and sold by its manufacturer as an SUV, while something like the Picanto X Line is classified as a car and only fleetingly associated with SUVs by its manufacturer, despite the fact that they are essentially the same in concept.
It could be argued that the whole expanded SUV universe is somewhat deceptive, implying a car has some form of capability off the road when it really doesn’t and you regularly hear stories of Brand X softroader being rescued by Brand Y proper SUV, but this is simply down to inexperience and poor judgment – even the most capable off-road vehicle can get comprehensively stuck if you try to drive it somewhere inappropriate...
Of course, this whole issue could have been simply and easily avoided had we collectively embraced the term ‘‘Crossover’’ that truly defines things like this – car-based vehicles that look like SUVs and offer the best bits and abilities of both.
But we didn’t, so we are stuck with SUV. And, in the grand scheme of things, it really doesn’t matter.