The Invasion of Premium Small SUVs & Crossovers Is On!

When the big buzz in supercars are crossover SUVs like the soon to be launched $160,000 Bentley Bentayga and the $200,000 Lamborghini Urus, it’s a good bet this small SUV trend is not a passing fad. In fact the category is building steam at every price segment with feverish competition now in the premium luxury class with prices ranging from $30,000 to $50,000 plus fully loaded.

Mercedes-Benz recently previewed its GLC new small SUV which joins the compact GLA model. Audi also is very aggressive in this space with its Q series downward progression from the large Q7 to respectively smaller Q5, Q3 and soon a Q2 model which will compete upwardly mobile models like the BMW MINI Countryman. BMW has a strong footprint in this segment with the X series including the largest X5 and successively smaller X3 and X1 and a new coupe crossover X2 on the way.

The new Lexus NX has grabbed some momentum in the SUV crossover segment because of its overtly youth-oriented extreme exterior styling. By measure of performance and value the just arriving $37,000 Land Rover Discovery Sport is a very strong contender.