[ip26]

The minivan-shaped hole in the market is being filled by crossovers.

But really it's a longer story than that. Minivans had previously replaced station wagons, and the crossovers of today tend to look like a cross between a minivan and a wagon.

[mtberatwork]

Crossovers seem to me to be the worst of all worlds. They have poor gas mileage and terrible highway aerodynamics like large SUVs and have limited trunk space while lacking "utility" features such as trailer hitch mounts or 4WD as standard.

[ip26]

Yes, but many, many people have no use for factory hitches, 4x4, or 6500lb towing capacities. What they want is interior room for passengers, high roofline, visibility, and elevated vantage point. As minivans became unhip (& expensive), consumers found these things in SUV's, but didn't like the price, gas mileage, handling, or safety. So SUV's evolved towards hatches & wagons with better aero, car-like handling, and monocoque frames, and the crossover was born.

[jmull]

They make different tradeoffs than trucks and truck-like SUVs. You don't prefer those tradeoffs, but plenty of people do.

[dsfyu404ed]

They get better gas milage than any truck or truck based SUV.

Their aero isn't as good as a car but it's better than a truck based SUV.

Fold the seats and you've got a trunk only slightly smaller than a minivan without the 3rd row.

AWD SUVs are readily available and generally the standard. FWD is generally reserved for people who want to go out of their way to be economical about it.

Trailer hitch is solved with $300 and a trip to Uhaul (or for the mechanically inclined: $120, Amazon and a 30% chance of needing a drill). With modern horsepower and brakes you can comfortably tow some stupidly large stuff with crossovers so long as you've got a weight distribution hitch to take some of the weight off the rear axle.

Crossovers do nothing great but they do everything passably well, just like the station wagons of the 1950s-80s they replaced.

[Consultant32452]

There's a broad range that meet lots of different needs. I have a '17 Kia Soul Exclaim. 1.6L turbo 5-door crossover. I can haul 4 adults comfortably and the trunk has more space than I usually use for groceries/gear. It does lack the trailer hitch and 4WD of the Wrangler I traded for it, but $100 fixes the hitch and I don't haul enough or go off-roading to need 4WD. I get 30mpg highway and that little turbo engine can really zip around. It's very fun to drive.

[petre]

4WD w/o a central differential is useless for most people who use their cars on paved roads. AWD on the other hand, especially viscous coupling auto AWD is quite useful. The trailer mount is only useful for a bike carrier or a light semi trailer.