The Guardian 27/07/23

More than 120 modern cars available to purchase on the UK market now overhang standard parking spaces, claiming ever more of our public space. These hulking vehicles were originally designed for off-road driving. And advertising campaigns featuring rugged terrains would have you believe this is how many are still being used. But in the UK, the overwhelming majority of drivers do not buy them to drive off-road: three-quarters of these vehicles end up polluting city streets, with a high proportion concentrated in the affluent west London borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Alongside their growing popularity, there is also a determined momentum to crack down on their usage in European cities. In Paris, officials will introduce new parking charges next year for larger and heavier vehicles. Noting there are no dirt paths or mountain roads in the city, David Belliard, its deputy mayor for public space and mobility policy, said SUVs are “dangerous, cumbersome and use too many resources to manufacture”.

In the UK, after the tragic collision at a Wimbledon school involving the driver of an SUV, after which two children died, the European Transport Safety Council called for a ban on SUVs in populated areas. “Do people need two-and-a-half-tonne vehicles to take their children to school?”, said a spokesperson. “London has done a great job on restricting the movement of freight vehicles. There is no reason why you could not look at restrictions on these types of vehicles too.”

And yet banning SUVs is unlikely to be simple. For manufacturers, they have far superior sales margins compared with normal cars. Since 2018, manufacturers have been spending more on marketing for these vehicles than standard cars, sometimes more than all their other cars combined.

And the ads work. In the 10 years to 2018, SUVs went from a 7% share of the EU car market to 36%. They now make up half of all car sales in Australia, and 46% of global car sales, according to data from 2022, at a time when other car sales were dropping.  According to a small study in Australia, SUV fuel consumption may in fact be between 16% and 65% higher than advertised, and yet ads still present them as desirable vehicles, associated with beautiful landscapes and adventure. We must start challenging this faux reality.