Will the next generation of drivers buck SUVs?
It seems no matter what generation you’re from, there’s a good chance you shunned the preferences of the one that came before you.
Those coming of age in the 1990s embraced grunge over disco, others in the aughts traded a Discman for an iPod and youth of today are now confounding everyone by gobbling up physical media and buying secondhand clothes.
We always seem to just not want what our parents had.
So I can’t help but wonder if the next generation of drivers will hit American roads in something other than SUVs.
This would be a sea change, if it’s even possible. Sport utility vehicles are the most popular type of car sold today and offer the most models from which to choose. Yes, the Ford F-series and Chevrolet Silverado trucks held the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively, in units moved in 2025, but the rest of the bestseller list is brimming with SUVs.
In third and fourth place, for example, are the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V compact SUVs. Those two models alone sold nearly 900,000 units. In all, roughly 9.6 million SUVs were purchased in 2025, easily claiming the majority of the 16.3 million new vehicles sold, according to Cox Automotive.
We’ve been here before
It wasn’t always this way. Ironically, SUVs themselves rose to popularity with a generation of drivers rejecting what came before them.
Starting in the 1990s with groundbreaking vehicles like the Ford Explorer (thanks, “Jurassic Park”) and heating up in the early 2000s with even more family-oriented options like the Honda Pilot and Toyota Highlander, SUVs became the stand-in for the station wagons and minivans of the past.
To this day, minivans — as magnificent as modern ones are — often get snubbed for 3-row SUVs when it comes to hauling family around. Sure, parents often cite SUVs’ all-wheel drive and ability to tow heavier loads as rationale for buying them, but the real reason might come down to the unspoken: “Eww. I don’t want to be seen in a minivan. That’s what my mom drove.”
A handful of minivans still exist, but they have far less presence on roads and dealer lots than they used to. The same can be said of 2-door coupes and, yes, even 4-door sedans.
Along with trucks, Americans just love SUVs, whether they’re subcompact or full-size, mainstream or luxury. You know it’s an SUV world when the bestselling Rolls-Royce is the Cullinan and even Ferrari has relented, bringing the Purosangue to market just last year.
Practicality and psychology
It’s hard to deny the practicality of SUVs, whether it’s their ability to comfortably seat a family or fit a month’s worth of groceries in the cargo area. Plus, their higher seating position means you can climb in and out easily and see over traffic — or at least eye to eye with all the other SUV drivers. But there’s also psychology that plays into their popularity.
SUVs are simply bigger than a comparable sedan, and by sheer physical proportions appear to give you more vehicle. Whether it’s house size or car size, generations of Americans grew up with the idea that more is better, even if they don’t use it.
That, too, might change with a new generation that doesn’t necessarily embrace excess.
“I would like to see a rationalization of customer behavior when it comes to what they truly need versus what they buy,” Ruben Archilla, senior manager of Mazda R & D, told me recently when discussing this topic. “I wouldn’t mind seeing a generation gravitate toward things that are more appropriately sized for how they actually use them.”
I should mention we had this conversation during the launch of the latest generation of Mazda’s bestselling vehicle: the CX-5 SUV.
Anti-SUVs exist
While automakers like Ford, Chevrolet and Buick don’t even sell new sedans these days, many other automakers are still very much in the game. The Toyota Camry and Honda Accord are better than ever.
Moreover, several automakers are still offering what I call the “anti-SUV” — hatchbacks. You only know the blessedness of one of these if you’ve owned one. You get similar cargo space to an SUV (sometimes more!), with the tauter driving dynamics and better fuel efficiency of a sedan.
Mazda offers an excellent one in the Mazda3 Hatchback, Honda has the Civic Hatchback, Toyota with the Corolla Hatchback, and even Kia has gotten back into the hatch game with the all-new K4 Hatchback. I’ve been test-driving the latter for a couple of weeks now and think it’s great.
Need all-wheel drive? The latest generation Subaru Impreza is only sold as a hatch, and with the latest Toyota Prius you can get both all-wheel drive and up to 54 mpg combined thanks to its hybrid powertrain. Talk about the best of all worlds.
Blurred lines and beyond
Then there’s the question of what an SUV even is these days. While rugged, boxy, body-on-frame SUVs like the Toyota 4Runner and Jeep Wrangler carry on, most SUVs today are known as crossovers, built on the bones of sedans (RIP). Crossovers trade off-road capability and the ability to tow heavy loads for more comfortable on-road manners and better fuel efficiency.
Also, the designs of many models are so morphed that they are SUVs in name only. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 are more akin to hot hatches than proper SUVs. Or take one look at the Buick Envista. It looks great for sure, but it sure doesn’t look like a conventional SUV.
So, what will tomorrow’s drivers be buying? In our conversation, Mazda’s Archilla predicted something else: The upcoming generation of drivers might well be buying used cars, either because of their personal value system or mere economics.
If that’s the case, they will have plenty of vehicle types to choose from — most of them likely being the SUVs their parents drove.
Matt Degen is a senior editor with Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader. He’s driven and reviewed practically every car model made in the past 15 years, all with the goal of helping shoppers find the right one for them.
The Steering Column is a weekly consumer auto column from Cox Automotive. Cox Automotive and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution are owned by parent company, Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises.
