A compact sport utility vehicle or compact SUV is a class of small

sport utility vehicle A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definitio ...

s that is larger than

mini SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definitio ...

s, but smaller than

mid-size SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definition ...

s. However, there is no official definition of the size or dimensions for this market segment. Moreover, some manufacturers have marketed the same model name on different sized vehicles over time. The most common distinction between versions of crossover automobiles and

compact Compact as used in politics may refer broadly to a pact or treaty; in more specific cases it may refer to: * Interstate compact, a type of agreement used by U.S. states * Blood compact, an ancient ritual of the Philippines * Compact government, a t ...

-sized SUVs is that the first is based on a car-based

unibody A vehicle frame, also historically known as its ''chassis'', is the main supporting structure of a motor vehicle to which all other components are attached, comparable to the skeleton of an organism. Until the 1930s, virtually every car had ...

platform, while an SUV uses the unibody with welded-in ladder frame or

body-on-frame Body-on-frame is a traditional motor vehicle construction method whereby a separate coachwork, body or coach is mounted on a strong and relatively rigid vehicle frame or chassis that carries the powertrain (the engine and drivetrain) and to wh ...

chassis commonly used on trucks. However, manufacturers and common usage has blurred the two terms. Many recent vehicles labelled as compact SUVs are technically compact crossovers and are built on the platform of a compact/

C-segment The C-segment is the 3rd category of the Euro Car Segment, European segments for passenger cars and is described as "medium cars". It is equivalent to the Euro NCAP "small family car" size class, and the compact car category in the United States. ...

passenger car, while some models may be based on a

mid-size car Mid-size—also known as intermediate—is a vehicle size class which originated in the United States and is used for cars larger than compact cars and smaller than full-size cars. "Large family car" is a UK term and a part of the D-segment in ...

(

D-segment The D-segment is the 4th category of the Euro Car Segment, European segments for passenger cars, and is described as "large cars". It is equivalent to the Euro NCAP "large family car" size class, and the present-day definition of the mid-size ...

) or a

B-segment The B-segment is the second smallest of the European segments for passenger cars between the A-segment and C-segment, and commonly described as "small cars". The B-segment is the third largest segment in Europe by volume, accounting for 15.5% ...

platform. The modern compact SUV market segment began in 1983. According to a

Car and Driver ''Car and Driver'' (''CD'' or ''C/D'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine first published in 1955. In 2006 its total circulation was 1.23 million. It is owned by Hearst Magazines, who purchased it from its prior owner Hachette Fi ...

review in 2019, the compact crossover and SUV market segment is popular because the vehicles "are right-sized, right-priced, and blend carlike refinement with a touch of utility."

Background

United States

Small-sized utility-type vehicles have been available since the advent of the first automobiles. The modern use of the "compact sport utility" category can be traced in the United States marketplace to the 1982-1994

Chevrolet S-10 Blazer The Chevrolet (S-10) Blazer and its badge engineered GMC (S-15) Jimmy counterpart are compact/mid-size SUVs manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet and GMC from the 1983 through 2005 model years, over two generations – until the early 1990s a ...

and the 1984-1990

Ford Bronco II The Ford Bronco II is a compact sport utility vehicle (SUV) that was manufactured by the American manufacturer Ford Motor Company, Ford. Closely matching the Ford Bronco#First generation (1966), first-generation Ford Bronco in size, the Bronco&n ...

because they are considered compact-sized SUVs that were built on a compact truck chassis. They were marketed alongside the

Chevrolet K5 Blazer The Chevrolet K5 Blazer is a SUV#Full-size SUV, full-size sport-utility vehicle (SUV) that was marketed by Chevrolet from the 1969 to 1994 model years. A variant of the Chevrolet C/K, C/K truck line, the K5 Blazer is a shortened version of the ...

and

Ford Bronco The Ford Bronco is a model line of SUV, SUVs manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company, Ford. The first SUV model developed by the company, five generations of the Bronco were sold from the 1966 to 1996 model years. A sixth generation of ...

full-size 4x4 vehicles. The compact two-door 1983

featured

four-wheel drive A four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, is a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case pr ...

with a four-cylinder engine as standard and Ford brought out the similar Bronco II model. Both were

designs based on each automaker's small

pickup truck A pickup truck or pickup is a Truck_classification#Table_of_US_GVWR_classifications, light or medium duty truck that has an enclosed cabin (truck), cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (th ...

s, the

Chevrolet S-10 The Chevrolet S-10 is a compact pickup truck produced by Chevrolet. It was the first domestically-built compact pickup of the big three American automakers. When it was first introduced as a "quarter-ton pickup" in 1981 for the 1982 model year, ...

and

Ford Ranger The Ford Ranger is a compact or mid-size pickup marketed globally by Ford over a series of generations, varying between both in-house or outside development and manufacturing — and with a hiatus in North America from 2011–2018. Debutin ...

respectively. The general dimensions, drive train, and cab details were identical to those of the compact truck with differences in the interior only aft of the doors. Both were

station wagon A station wagon (American English, US, also wagon) or estate car (British English, UK, also estate) is an automotive Car body style, body-style variant of a Sedan (automobile), sedan with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo ...

-like vehicles with seating for four adults and an enclosed cargo area with a rear

hatchback A hatchback is a car body style, car body configuration with a rear door that swings upward to provide access to the main interior of the car as a cargo area rather than just to a separated trunk. Hatchbacks may feature fold-down second-row sea ...

American Motors American Motors Corporation (AMC; commonly referred to as American Motors) was an American automobile manufacturing company formed by the mergers and acquisitions, merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company on May 1, 19 ...

made the full-sized

Jeep Wagoneer (SJ) The Jeep Wagoneer is a luxury 4x4 produced and marketed under the Jeep brand from the 1963 to 1991 model years. Introduced as the replacement for the Jeep Station Wagon, the Wagoneer was the first Jeep model line completely distinct from th ...

SUV using a truck chassis, but developed a completely new and slim

Jeep Cherokee (XJ) The Jeep Cherokee (XJ) is a sport utility vehicle developed by American Motors Corporation (AMC) and marketed across a single generation by Jeep in the United States from 1983 (model year 1984) through 2001 — and globally through 2014. It was ...

line of two- and four-door compact sport wagons that were marketed starting in late 1983. These are often considered the first compact American four-door sport utility vehicles. While the competing SUVs were adaptations of compact pickup trucks, Jeep did not have one, so they designed an SUV first; starting with a four-door version and featuring a very strong, lightweight unibody construction like most passenger cars, as well as with a lightweight "link/coil" suspension design that was praised by the automotive press for its superior ride, performance, and handling. The original Jeep XJ combined a passenger car comfort with a rugged chassis for ease of driving in difficult conditions, and established the modern SUV market segment. ''

Automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

'' magazine called it a "masterpiece" of automotive design with room for five passengers and their cargo. According to Bob Lutz, an executive at several car companies,

(AMC) "invented an all-new automotive segment—the compact sport utility vehicle" with the original compact

Jeep Cherokee The Jeep Cherokee is a line of sport utility vehicles (SUV) manufactured and marketed by Jeep over five generations. Marketed initially as a variant of the Jeep Wagoneer (SJ), the Cherokee has evolved from a full-size SUV to one of the first ...

two- and four-door models. The compact Cherokee's design, appearance, and sales popularity spawned imitators as other automakers noticed that the Jeep XJ models began replacing regular cars. Compact SUVs have become an alternative to the minivans for families who need cargo space. While almost unchanged since its introduction, Cherokee XJ production continued through 2005 in China, and was one of the best-selling compact SUVs in the world. There were over 2.8 million Jeep XJs built in the U.S. between 1984 and 2001. According to a 1995 review by the

American Automobile Association American Automobile Association (AAA) is a federation of motor clubs throughout North America. AAA is a privately held not-for-profit national member association and service organization with over 60 million members in the United States and Cana ...

, AMC's "clever marketing helped create the present demand for compact sport-utility vehicles."

Japan

The Japanese 1988

Suzuki Vitara The Suzuki Vitara is a series of Sport utility vehicle, SUVs produced by Suzuki in five generations since 1988. The second and third generation were known as the Suzuki Grand Vitara, while the fourth generation eschewed the "Grand" prefix. In ...

is also considered to be a compact SUV.

References

{{Automobile configuration it:Sport Utility Vehicle#Compact SUV