suv

Sport-utility (vehicle), SUV or sport-ute is an automotive classification, typically a kind of station wagon / estate car with off-road vehicle features like raised ground clearance and ruggedness, and available four-wheel drive. Many SUVs are built on a light-truck chassis but operated as a family vehicle, and though designed to be used on rougher surfaces, most often used on city streets or highways. In recent years, in some countries the term SUV has replaced terms like "Jeep" or "Land-Rover" in the popular lexicon as a generic description for light 4WD vehicles.Many SUVs have an upright built body and tall interior packaging, a high seating position and center of gravity, and available all-wheel drive for off-road capability. Some SUVs include the towing capacity of a pickup truck with the passenger-carrying space of a minivan or large sedan.
The traditional truck-based SUV is more and more being supplanted by unitary body SUVs and crossovers based on regular automobile platforms for lighter weight and better fuel efficiency. In some countries, notably the United States, SUVs are not classified as cars, but as light trucks.SUVs overtook lower medium segment cars to become the world's largest automotive segment in 2015, accounting for 22.9 percent of global light vehicle sales (for 2015), or 36.8% of the world's passenger car market (Q1–Q3, 2017). World-wide sales of SUVs grew from 5 million units in 2000 to 20 million in 2015 and are forecast to hit 42 million units by 2031. Becoming popular in the late-1990s and early & mid-2000s, SUV sales temporarily declined due to high oil prices and a declining economy, but by 2010, SUV sales around the world were growing again, in spite of gasoline prices. The market has overwhelmingly come to prefer 4/5-door models in favor of historically popular 2-door off-roaders.

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