Americans love big cars.
Specifically, we love SUVs. Jeep, an American company, is credited with creating the first modern-style SUV with the Cherokee in 1984.
In 2020, Toyota sold 750,000 SUV's in the U.S. Jeep was America's second choice with 622,000 SUVs sold.
In 2019, SUV sales made up about 47% of all vehicle sales in the U.S. with sedans making up just 22%, according to IHS Markit.
It's been that way since 2015 when SUVs outsold sedans for the first time in the country.
But the love for the SUV isn't just restricted to America anymore. Countries around the globe are seeing SUV sales increase and that could spell bad news for the climate.
2021 SUV Sales Increase Cancels Out EV Sales Record
Global SUV sales accounted for more than 45% of global car sales, marking a new record for both volume and share, according to the International Energy Agency.
SUV sales were five times higher than EV sales in 2021 as the United States, India and Europe bout more of them.
China was one of the countries that saw stagnating growth, mainly due to a big rise in small battery-powered electric cars, according to the IEA. China is really pushing those small EVs, with some models going for less than 10,000 USD.
But there are also signs that the demand for SUVs can be met by electric SUVs.
Last year, about 55% of the EVs on the market were SUVs, up from 45% in 2019. In the U.S. and E.U. e-SUVs accounted for more than 55% of electric car sales in 2021.
But this is just a drop in the bucket as the global fleet of 320 million SUVs represents 98% of those type of vehicles on the road.
Global SUV sales rose by 35 million to 320 million in 2021.
Can Auto Company's Meet Demand
The demand for SUVs is apparent but it is up to car companies to convince people to go with the electric models.
For Ford (F), General Motors (GM), Volkswagen VWAGY and other companies who have pledged to phase out their legacy businesses and only build EVs in the coming years, the marketing push for electric SUVs was a foregone conclusion.
Tesla's Model Y electric SUV was the best-selling EV in 2021 with an MSRP of nearly $57,000. Ford's Mustang Mach E was fourth with an MSRP of $43,000.
Upstarts like Lucid (LCID) and Rivian (RIVN) are trouble getting off the ground, but more competition will only drive prices down and encourage more consumers to buy in.
Consumers buying in is paramount to reducing Co2 emissions.
SUVs rank among the top causes of energy-related Co2 emissions over the last decade. The 35 million more SUVs that were sold in 2021 than 2020 drove up global annual Co2 emissions by 120 million tonnes.
If SUVs were their own country, they would rank sixth in the world for absolute emissions in 2021. It's within everyone's best interest to reduce SUV emissions.
The opportunity is there for whichever car company wants to take it.
