Crossovers have become hugely popular in recent years and they now dominate the new car sales charts. Walk along a residential street and it often seems like at least half the cars there are a crossover of some description. Manufacturers are even dropping their coupes, convertibles, estates and MPVs because people are buying crossovers instead.
But what, exactly is a crossover? It’s a surprisingly knotty question to answer but we’re going to do so here. We’ll explain what a crossover is and what it isn’t, and cover their advantages and disadvantages to help you decide if you should buy one.
What is a crossover exactly?
It’s actually quite difficult to come up with an all-encompassing definition of what a crossover is. For every point you could make about what makes a crossover a crossover, there are multiple exceptions.
There are, however, a few things we can say for definite. All crossovers currently on sale in the UK have five doors, albeit with bodies of different shapes. Some are hatchbacks, some are coupes, some are more like estates and some are essentially an MPV.
Pretty much all crossovers are primarily sold with two-wheel-drive. There may be four-wheel-drive models available, but they’re usually a bit of an afterthought. In many cases, the 4WD model is a hybrid with an electric motor powering the back wheels, while the car’s engine powers the front wheels.
But the key identifying characteristics of a crossover are that it’s taller and has more ground clearance than an equivalent hatchback or estate. But not by much. The Hyundai Bayon crossover, for instance, is only 4cm taller than a Hyundai i20 hatchback and most of the difference is in the Bayon’s greater ground clearance.
How is a crossover different to an SUV?
If anything, this question is even more difficult to answer. There are some cars that clearly are an SUV. The Land Rover Defender, for instance, is most definitely an SUV and not a crossover. That’s because it’s really tall, has loads of ground clearance, its body is big and boxy, every model has 4WD and the chassis is tuned to handle the roughest, toughest terrain the world has to offer.
But what about the Ford Puma? By the definition we laid out earlier, it’s a crossover. It has a five-door hatchback body, it’s only available with front-wheel-drive, it has more ground clearance than the Ford Fiesta it shares a platform with but is only 5cm taller overall. Yet Ford itself refers to the Puma as an SUV.
Ultimately, a car manufacturer can call its products whatever it wants. Terms do come into and go out of fashion, as well. There was a time when it seemed like everyone was referring to their taller cars as a crossover, even if they clearly weren’t. However, manufacturers seem to have moved back to using the term SUV.
Where’s the line between a crossover and a regular car?
The line between a regular car and a crossover used to be pretty clear. Put a crossover next to an equivalent regular car and it would be taller and have more ground clearance. However, the line between the two is getting quite blurry thanks to electric cars.
Let’s take a look at the Citroen C5 X. It’s definitely a crossover. It has relatively high ground clearance and it’s taller overall than an equivalent hatchback like the Skoda Superb. It’s tough-looking black plastic body cladding lends it some of the SUV-ish style that’s crucial in a crossover, as well. Notably, Citroen itself doesn’t define what sort of car the C5 X is.
Now, let’s consider the Kia EV6. Its maker pointedly calls it a crossover and it is, indeed, 4.5cm taller than the C5 X. You take quite a big step up into the EV6, as well. But that’s because it uses a thick, skateboard-style chassis that contains the batteries. The EV6 actually has 4cm less ground clearance than the C5 X.
Kia is, of course, perfectly entitled to call the EV6 a crossover but there are members of the Parkers team who would argue that it’s actually a regular hatchback – it certainly looks like one. And it’s just one of many such cars.
What are the advantages of a crossover?
Many people just like the SUV-like style of a crossover, but they do have some practical advantages over regular cars. Their extra ground clearance, in particular, which creates an elevated seating position. That gives a better view of the road ahead for the driver, and the surrounding scenery for the passengers.
Access is improved, as well. The higher seat means you don’t have to lower yourself so far into the car, and it’s easier to get out. You don’t have to bend down so much when lifting children into and out of the car, either.
The extra ground clearance also gives more suspension travel, so crossovers are generally better able to soak up the UK’s ruined roads. Many crossovers have more passenger and boot space than a comparable hatchback or saloon, as well.
What are the disadvantages of a crossover?
Crossovers always cost more to buy than an equivalent hatchback, saloon or estate. They’re not as efficient, either, and aren’t quite as good to drive. But those slight compromises don’t really matter to the legions of crossover buyers who probably wouldn’t have anything else.
