Emerging automotive trends to lookout for

The cars we drive today aren’t like the ones our parents drove; and certainly, a lot different from those our grandparents travelled in. With every year, era or generation of a vehicle, automotive manufacturers adopt changes that affect the way vehicles are manufactured, sold and even driven. Some become sweeping trends that revolutionise the industry altogether, while others are better forgotten. This week, we take a closer look at a mixed bag of some of the more influential trends in the automotive industry. And we begin with…

Age of the SUV

The SUV segment that was once dominated by traditional manufacturers like Jeep, Land Rover, Ford and Toyota is now ‘fair game’. All manufacturers want a piece of that very lucrative pie.

In 1999, when BMW launched the X5, people scoffed at the German SUV. More than two decades later, the X5 is, in some eyes, the ‘king of the road’. And in that time, almost every manufacturer has added one or multiple SUVs or crossover SUVs to their range. Even premium European automakers that previously produced only luxury chauffeur-driven sedans and sports cars and probably thought of SUVs as too ‘blue collar’ have joined the bandwagon. Some examples are Maserati with the Levante, Lamborghini with the Urus, Aston Martin with the DBX, Bentley with the Bentayga and Rolls-Royce with the Cullinan.

Why are SUVs popular? Besides the obvious additional cargo space and commanding driving position, the apparent feeling of safety is probably why consumers are flocking towards SUVs.

Electric & hybrid drivetrains

The news on climate change has been on our TV screens and in our newspapers for many decades now. And although it has taken forever, the work surrounding it, i.e. the development of sustainable design and manufacturing, has finally come to fruition in the mass market. One such result is the introduction of the ZEVs (Zero Emission Vehicles) like electric vehicles and PZEVs (Partial Zero Emission Vehicles) like hybrid vehicles.

In this segment, Toyota’s been successful for almost two decades with the Prius hybrid range. Recently, Tesla has led the way with the premium range of EVs. Even the American manufacturer Jeep, known for building rugged, gasoline-powered recreational vehicles, now has a plug-in hybrid Wrangler 4xe in the range. Who’d have thought the day would come?

Downsizing and turbocharging

Probably the most popular slogan in the auto industry is “no replacement for displacement”. Manufacturers, enthusiasts, motorsport teams and even the common buyer rejoiced in the option of a larger engine in their automobiles. Larger displacements meant more torque and more power. But now things are taking a new direction. Manufacturers are dropping engine capacity and cylinder numbers for small displacement turbocharged engines. Whilst the latter still qualifies as ICE or an Internal Combustion Engine, they are more advantageous than their naturally aspirated brethren. They deliver on the promise of power, whilst keeping weight and fuel economy lower. In the North American market, the Nissan X-Trail is now available with a turbocharged 1.5-litre 3-cylinder engine under the hood, where once you would have found a larger 2.5-litre 4-cylinder engine. A sportier example is the BMW M5. The E60 model built from 2004 to 2010 has a 500 horse 5.0-litre V10. The latest iteration of the M5 — codenamed F90 — has a 600 bhp+ twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8. Again, smaller but more potent!

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wknd@khaleejtimes.com