Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-05-18)

CARS

58

The Sports Car That’s an SUV

Why the beefy, safe-feeling SUV coupe is the model of the moment

By Hannah Elliott

“Is that the lava orange?” a dude in a T-shirt and cap shouted

at me from his Jeep Wrangler idling in a shallow riverbed out-

side Ojai, Calif. “How do you like it? I’ve got one on order!”

The off-roader was eyeing my 2020 Porsche Cayenne Turbo

Coupe, a $130,100 crossover with a carbon-fiber roof and car-

toonishly large wheels. As I drove slowly past him through a

washed-out section of road flowing in muddy rapids, he and

his rugged buddies whooped their approval. I was surprised,

in part because I liked this oddly named franken-car, too.

The rig belongs to an increasingly significant sports util-

ity subsegment that’s come to be known collectively as SUV

coupes. Porsche Automobil Holding SE offers five variations

on its Cayenne Coupe alone. If you’re wondering about the

label “coupe” on something like an SUV, it’s not just you.

Untilrecently, the term was reserved for an auto with two

doors. But that definition has expanded beyond low-slung

sports cars to include zippy four-door sedans and now SUVs,

which dominate 70% of total auto sales in the U.S.

The emerging type (sometimes called a crossover coupe,

sport utility coupe, or sport activity coupe) is built on the chas-

sis of an SUV. It’s got big cabin space, an elevated ride, and

ample towing capacity, but it’s topped with the low, sleek roof-

line of a sports car. You can distinguish it from a traditional SUV

if you look closely: Both the $76,500 2021 Mercedes-AMG GLE

53 Coupe (shown here) and the Porsche I drove this month

taper off midway back down their roofline, as if a sculptor had

smoothly rounded off all the squared edges.

People are dropping leases of “vehicles that are swoopier

in design—sedans or coupes they really liked—because they

want the utility” of an SUV, says Stephanie Brinley, auto-

motive analyst for research company IHS Markit Ltd. “These

SUV coupes address that niche.”

Those designing them say the spread of Covid-19 will only

further the reach of the style. “Now the most important thing COURTESY MERCEDES-BENZ

Thefixedpanoramicroof

is cutconsiderablysteeperthanina

traditionalSUV,witha lower

toplineslopingtowardthebackand

reducedspaceintherear

The Mercedes-

AMG GLE 53 Coupe

has a hybridized

inline-six engine

with 429 horsepower

and 384 pound-feet

of torque

The all-new,

AMG-specific

grille makes the

SUV coupe look

identical—from

the front—to

its traditional

SUV brethren

The wheelbase is 2.4 inches shorter than

that of the regular GLE; two new drive modes

and an advanced ride-control suspension

system keep the GLE coupe nimbler than its

2.5-ton weight might suggest