by Felipe
SUV, Sport Utiliy Vehicle, is a name given to those larger and taller cars which most of the times use 4WD transmission. As regular cars, SUV are also divided by segments but in this case there is no ‘A’ segment because their size has been always larger than cars. The ‘B-SUV’ segment are those SUV with the shorter measures though the segmentation of SUV is more difficult in terms of length as there are so many options with several measures and features and in some cases there are big but no luxury SUVs or the opposite. It is why in this segment it is possible to find two different models such as the Dacia/Renault Duster and the Mini Countryman. The first one is a low cost and small SUV while the second one is much more expensive but shorter. At the end both, cars and some others are whether the cheapest or the shortest.
Fiat Sedici interior. This kind of SUV are small and sometimes based on ‘B’ Segment cars. Photos by http://www.netcarshow.com
Sometimes they are the SUV version of ‘B-Segment’ cars, as the Duster which is based in the Renault Logan/Sandero. As this kind of vehicles are short and sometimes cheap, Fiat could have a better position as it is strong with small cars. Some years ago they signed an agreement with Suzuki to produce a small SUV called Sedici for Fiat and SX4 for Suzuki. The Fiat model has not been successful but the Suzuki has had better sales figures specially because it is also produced and sold outside Europe. Nevertheless there is a good future for Fiat in this segment. They are developing the SUV version of the 500, already shown during the presentation of the 500L in Turin. Last year Fiat sold around 15.000 units Sedicis in a segment that sold around 1.2 million units worldwide. The largest market was China with almost 300.000 units, followed by India, where the Suzuki does a great job. In Europe, France was the largest market where the Duster got an important place.
