The SUV myth

The daily Kurier does not find the rising number of registrations in Europe of Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) - an object of hate for environmentalists - particularly worrying: "Late as it was in picking up on this trend, Europe's automotive industry did its own bit towards demonising [these vehicles] by first launching the big, lucrative SUVs needed for markets like the US and Russia. It was only with the second wave that the models developed for European dimensions were introduced. The image of martial petrol guzzlers that are much too big and driven by arrogant polluters continues to dominate the debate. A look at the statistics shows how distorted this image really is. The growth [in this segment] is being driven by cars like the Nissan Qashqai or the VW Tiguan, which buyers like because they see them as an comfortable alternative to station wagons and many of which are ordered without all-wheel-drive. The big models, on the contrary, are in decline. But for the purposes of statistics they are all lumped in the same SUV category."

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