Bloomberg Pursuits May 18, 202059to know is that you and your family are safe, and the safety
aspect applies to an SUV coupe. It’s very beefy, it’s strong, you
sit up high, it has big wheels and 4x4 capability,” says Gorden
Wagener, design chief at Daimler AG, describing Mercedes-
Benz’s GLE 53 Coupe. “People will want to feel protected in a
visual way,” says Adam Hatton, the creative director of exte-
rior design at Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc, who was
on a recent conference call speaking about the future of auto
design after Covid-19. “My job is to make cars look very solid,
planted, and safe. ‘This is my protective shell.’ ”
BMW introduced the first iteration of an SUV coupe in
2009 with the X6, a 5,000-pound shorn-off SUV. Jaguar’s
I-Pace and Range Rover’s Evoque followed, as did BMW’s
four-door X2—even if they weren’t strictly advertised under
that moniker. Mercedes-Benz showed a coupe derivative of
its GLE SUV in 2015; the trend had become fully crystallized
by March 2019, when Porsche revealed the Cayenne Coupe.
(At base, the model starts at $75,300.)
Notable failures in the category include the now-
discontinued, rather bland Acura ZDX and the too-quirky
BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo hatchback, also since deceased.
Porsche’s more boxy, rectangular counterparts offer sporty
cosmetic options, such as a “lightweight” performance pack-
age in the 541-horsepower Cayenne Turbo Coupe that deletes
the sunroof and adds a carbon-fiber roof. They can weigh a
bit less and be slightly faster than their SUV siblings, but the
only substantial engineering change is that the back seats have
been lowered to afford more headroom in the streamlined
rear cabin. Those coupes based on an existing SUV model,
such as the Cayenne and GLE, carry identical engines, brakes,
transmissions, and suspension systems. Wagener calls the
effect “coupe DNA translated into SUV proportions.”
Even if they’re largely defined by styling changes, it’s not
just a marketing gimmick. “There’s no trick involved—it’s really
about trying to make people happy,” says IHS Markit’s Brinley.
“Right now, if you put a sedan out there, it’s not impossible to
sell, but it will be difficult. Automakers are trying to address
somebody who wants utility but expects sexier looks.”
Indeed, both the Cayenne Coupe and the GLE 53 Coupe
offer more than 54 cubic feet of rear storage space, roughly
90% and 80% of that in the Cayenne and GLE SUVs, respec-
tively. During my test drive, I used the Porsche to ford shal-
low streams and navigate dirt roads near sunny Tejon Pass,
75 miles outside Ojai. Later that week, I used the more luxu-
rious Mercedes on a Home Depot run, filling up the back with
palms, pots, and fertilizer destined for a patio deck.
SUV coupes allow more space for battery packs and elec-
tric motors than do sedans, because they’re larger all around,
which is also auspicious for their future popularity. Porsche’s
Cayenne Coupe offers hybrid variants, and Jaguar’s I-Pace is
all-electric. “The big thing you have to deal with as a designer
is the layer of batteries, which you can disguise with a cross-
over coupe” by putting them under the elevated passengers,
Hatton says. More space? Larger wheels? They’re great things,
whether you’re off-roading out in the sticks or just want to
look good on a trip to Home Depot. The rear seats
are dropped to
compensate for the
lower roofline without
losing headroomBeefed-up 21-inch alloy wheels
provide a powerful stance;
22-inch wheels are optionalThe loading sill
of the trunk has
been lowered by
2.4 inches for
easier ingress