The family car: Crossover appeal

Don't want a gas-hogging SUV? Minivan too grim? Car too cozy? Then this ultra-hot auto category may be for you....

http://money.cnn.com/rssclick/galleries/2008/autos...

The family car: crossover appeal (Abstract text format)

The family car: Crossover appeal - A surprising success (1) - CNNMoney.com Home Business News Markets Personal Finance Retirement Technology Luxury Small Business Fortune Video My Portfolio CNN.com Companies Economy International Corre ctions Pre-market Trading After-hours Trading Winners/Losers/Actives Bonds Currencies Commodi ties World Markets Money Magazine Real Estate Mutual Funds Taxes Ask the Expert Money 101 Autos Loan Center Best Places to Live Ask the Expert Millionaires in the Making Ultimate Guide to Retirement Retirement Calculators Best Funds Ask the Mole Best Places to Retire Personal Tech Big Tech Blog Techland Blog Sectors and Stocks Fortune 500 Techs Tech Talk 100 Best Places to Launch Ultimate Resource Guide Small Biz Makeovers FSB 100 Ask & Answer Fortune 500 Technology Investing Management Rankings Main Creat e Portfolio Edit Portfolio Create Alerts Edit Alerts More autos • Green cars: The un-dirty dozen • GM takes two-way road on hybrids • All aboard! Top 10 family rides Photo Galleries 6 hot Macworld apps for business While Apple had little new to announce at Macworld, the show's expo hall is filled with outside developers showing off innovative new apps. Here's our picks for 6 tools no Apple-loving small business should be without. More 2009: The forecast for entrepreneurs Small companies ended 2008 with a laundry list of troubles, with sales slow, bank lending frozen, and health care and credit-card costs soaring. Here's what to expect in 2009 on 7 key issues. More Autos: 2008 winners and losers In a disastrous year for auto sales here's who came out on top and who got thrown under the wheels. More Special Offer The family car: Crossover appeal Don't want a gas-hogging SUV? Minivan too grim? Car too cozy? Then this ultra-hot auto category may be for you. 1 of 6 A surprising success Woe is your auto dealer: Last year closed out with what looked like the worst sales in a decade. In fact, he might be at the soup line right now had it not been for one surprising success: the crossover.A bright spot in an otherwise abysmal year, some 2.4 million of these half-car, half-SUV vehicles were sold in 2007, an increase of 16% over '06, according to Autodata.What's not to love? "They're the best of cars and the best of SUVs," said Tom Libby, an analyst with J.D. Power & Associates. Crossovers generally have wagon-shaped bodies, tall rooflines, "high in the saddle" ride height and standard or optional all-wheel drive. They also offer interior flexibility and roominess similar to minivans.What crossovers lack - besides mom-mobile styling - is the SUV's heavy underbody frame and tough-as-nails engineering. But really, how often do you tow or go off-road? Being lighter than SUVs, crossovers are also more nimble and boast slightly better fuel economy (though, admittedly, they still guzzle more gas than cars).No wonder auto manufacturers are rushing to bring more to market. The hearty class of '08 alone offers one for every driving style. Click below for some road-tested picks in several categories - and maybe meet the vehicle that will earn your car salesman a rare steak dinner. By Peter Valdes-Dapena, Money Magazine contributing writer NEXT: The starter car: Scion xB Crossover Starter car Green mac... Family ha... Sporty dr... Luxury ride Last updated February 22 2008: 12:35 PM ET Email | Print | Digg this story | RSS © 2009 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Privacy Policy Home Portfolio Calculators Contact Us Newsletters Podcasts RSS Mobile Widgets Press Center Site Map User Preferences Advertise with Us Magazine Customer Service Download Fortune Lists Reprints Career Opportunities Special Sections Conferences Business Leader Council Live Quotes automatically refresh, but individual equities are delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges. Market indexes are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET.* : Time reflects local markets trading time. † - Intraday data delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges. Disclaimer Copyright © 2009 BigCharts.com Inc. All rights reserved. Please see our Terms of Use.MarketWatch, the MarketWatch logo, and BigCharts are registered trademarks of MarketWatch, Inc.Intraday data provided by Interactive Data Real-Time Services and subject to the Terms of Use.Intraday data is at least 20-minutes delayed. All times are ET.Historical, current end-of-day data, and splits data provided by Interactive Data Pricing and Reference Data.Fundamental data provided by Morningstar, Inc..SEC Filings data provided by Edgar Online Inc..Earnings data provided by FactSet CallStreet, LLC.

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