Driving By Numbers: The big family SUV is officially the modern minivan

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The modern family van isn’t a van at all. It’s a visually rugged vehicle with all-wheel-drive, elevated ride height, three rows of seating, far less space and flexibility than a traditional van, and front-hinged doors.

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The modern family van is an SUV. A crossover, if you prefer. Canadian sales of large SUVs from volume brands – not the full-size behemoths such as the Ford Expedition, mind you – produced nearly three times more sales than the minivan segment in 2021’s first quarter. In a resurgent auto industry following COVID-19’s severe impacts in 2020, minivan sales were actually 29 percent lower than they were at this time a year ago.

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But large SUVs such as the Ford Explorer, Toyota Highlander, and Volkswagen Atlas? They were up a combined 30 percent, growing at twice the rate of the overall new vehicle market. That kind of marketplace expansion is greater than what we’re seeing in the red-hot pickup truck sector, superior to the kind of growth produced by the roaring luxury SUV category, and significantly better than the growth in Canada’s biggest SUV segment: compact SUVs, led by the Toyota RAV4.

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Canada’s MPV segment is struggling to gain any momentum even with a bundle of new-gen vans on the market. Scratch that: there’s plenty of momentum in the van world. But rolling-downhill-towards-a-cliff isn’t the kind of momentum for which Canada’s five remaining van participants are searching. Only 8,835 Grand Caravans, Odysseys, Pacificas, Sedonas, and Siennas were sold by Chrysler, Dodge, Honda, Kia, and Toyota in 2021’s first three months.

With 13 contenders in the large SUV/crossover market, on the other hand, the first quarter of 2021 produced more than 24,000 sales. All but two are selling more often this year than last.

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Toyota Highlander: 4,370, up 54 percent

This is the result when the Highlander’s huge gains are paired with a slip-up from last year’s No. 1 — the Highlander claims the top spot. Much of the Highlander’s forward progress was motivated by a massive March. With 2,013 sales to cap off the quarter, March was the Highlander’s highest-volume month on record in Canada.

Evidently not (yet) suffering from some of the inventory challenges that have hindered other nameplates, the fourth-generation Highlander built up a solid 785-unit lead over the No. 2 contender and claimed 18 percent market share.

Ford Explorer: 3,585, down 4 percent

In a segment historically led by the Ford Explorer, in a segment that’s booming, in an industry where the balance of high demand and short supply is pervasive, it’s safe to assume Ford would have sold more Explorers in Q1 had Ford dealers actually stocked more Explorers. Nevertheless, the sixth-generation Explorer that suffered such an extremely botched launch prior to the pandemic remains a clear No. 2, further ahead of the third-place Volkswagen Atlas than it is behind the top-ranked Highlander.

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Volkswagen Atlas: 2,626, up 67 percent

History books that chronicle Volkswagen’s Americanizing of vehicles isn’t full of success stories. Neither is Volkswagen’s SUV history littered with tales of top sellers. But the Atlas spins a different yarn. It’s a hit. Even in 2020, when the market tanked 20 percent, Atlas sales were actually up 5 percent. Even now, with a clear third-place finish in 2021’s first quarter, the Atlas continues to motor forward. The Tiguan’s big brother is also the segment’s third-fastest-growing vehicle, boosted by the addition of the smaller Atlas Cross Sport.

Honda Pilot: 2,274, up 27 percent

A marginal loss of market share for Honda’s SUV flagship in 2021 shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. While still a major player in the category, the Pilot is one of the older designs. This third-gen model debuted in time for the 2016 model year — 2021 is therefore its sixth. While Pilot sales are up 27 percent, sales of its van sibling, the Odyssey, are down 29 percent.

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Dodge Durango: 1,943, down 4 percent

After a brief hiatus following the demise of the second-generation Dodge Durango in 2009, Dodge returned with a new Durango for the 2011 model year. A decade later, this is the very same Durango, albeit constantly updated and frequently powered-up. The Durango held steady as a niche player in the category until 2016, when over 6,000 were sold. Prior to a predictably steep drop-off in 2020, a record 9,220 Durangos were sold in 2019. Old age has not been the Durango’s enemy.

Hyundai Palisade: 1,809, up 52 percent

Think of the Palisade as a successor to the Hyundai Santa Fe XL, which was itself the Hyundai Veracuz’s replacement. But while the Veracruz was largely overlooked by large SUV shoppers – sales never topped 2,000 units on an annual basis – the Palisade is a hit for Hyundai.

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Why does the Palisade consistently outsell its platform partner, the Kia Telluride? Setting aside the availability factor, it certainly helps that Hyundai Canada offers a sub-$40K entry-level Palisade. The Telluride’s Canadian pricing structure basically starts at the midway point of the U.S. lineup with a $44,995 model.

Chevrolet Traverse: 1,657, up 45 percent

What’s Chevrolet’s approach to the large SUV game? Go big or go home. The second-generation Chevrolet Traverse stretches 5,189 mm from nose to tail. In Imperial terms, that’s half-a-foot longer than the Ford Explorer and Volkswagen Atlas and nearly 10 inches longer than the class-leading Toyota Highlander. The Traverse is also part of a big GM effort in the segment with assistance from the Buick Enclave and more Highlander-sized GMC Acadia. Combined, the trio owns 13 percent market share.

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Kia Telluride: 1,360, up 91 percent

Well back of the leaders, and 449 sales behind its Palisade partner, the Kia Telluride is nevertheless the fastest-growing large SUV on the market. Sales are nearly twice as strong in 2021’s Q1 as they were a year ago. Kia dealers are forever crying out for more Tellurides; those that are delivered generally sell within days of arrival, if they’re not already pre-sold.

Keep in mind, the Telluride’s three-row competition at Kia isn’t limited to the Sedona/Carnival minivan — Kia also sells the smaller Sorento exclusively as a three-row/all-wheel-drive SUV, as well. 2,030 Sorentos were sold in Q1.

Mazda CX-9: 1,296, up 72 percent

Small but mighty, Mazda made serious market share headway in Canada during the height of 2020’s COVID-19 auto sales collapse. The CX-9 was a meaningful part of that effort thanks to sales improvements in both the third and fourth quarters. The CX-9’s trajectory is still positive — sales are growing more than twice as fast as the segment in which it competes.

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GMC Acadia: 1,031, up 22 percent

At one point, the Acadia was part of a four-pronged GM strategy (including the Traverse, Buick Enclave, and Saturn Outlook) to hit the large SUV segment with bulky crossovers. Now the Acadia walks a fine line: big enough to compete, small enough to be more affordable. You can even get the Acadia with a naturally-aspirated four-cylinder engine.

Has the formula worked? Yes and no. The Acadia’s best years came before the downsizing, but Canadian volume remains in the same ballpark, and GM is better served by providing more distinct options to consumers.

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Nissan Pathfinder: 941, up 11 percent

As a late-spring/early-summer supply crunch gets ready to hit Nissan dealerships, will the next-generation Nissan Pathfinder even make it to showrooms in sufficient quantities to make a difference? It had better, because the outgoing Pathfinder has been around far too long as an SUV that, let’s face it, wasn’t a class leader when it debuted in late 2012. Initially, the Pathfinder sold well — volume tripled to nearly 8,000 units in 2013. But Nissan has only sold 4,333 Pathfinders over the last 15 months.

Subaru Ascent: 720, up 26 percent

In a Subaru lineup stuffed with hits, the Ascent isn’t one of them. Subaru sold nearly 10,000 SUVs/crossovers in 2021’s first three months – only 7 percent of them were Ascents. Ranking 12th in a segment of 13, the Ascent’s bland styling causes it to disappear in a crowd of elegant CX-9s, squared-off Tellurides, and athletic Explorers. The Ascent is Subaru’s first three-row vehicle since the unloved B9 Tribeca. Fortunately, it sells at greater levels than that colossal failure. Subaru sold only 744 Tribecas during its final three years.

Buick Enclave: 521, up 6 percent

Sure, the Buick Enclave slides quietly into the segment’s final slot, but it’s hardly an ignominious result. The Enclave is GM’s semi-premium foray into the category — it’s now 33 percent more costly than its Chevrolet counterpart, the Traverse. The Enclave, therefore, isn’t designed to be a high-volume mainstream SUV. Granted, it’s not a high-volume premium SUV, either. Acura, for example, sold 1,264 MDXs in Q1, BMW sold over 1,000 X5s, and GM’s truly premium Cadillac Escalade produced 678 sales to kick-start the year.