Greetings, petrolheads! Today’s post is a bit of fresh air, as it has nothing to do with Smarts. In fact, it’s no car test whatsoever. It’s my personal view as an Industry insider and lover about the strongest – and most lucrative – trend in recent years: The SUV boom. This is a trend which, like Coca-Cola and McDonalds, we Europeans (and a great deal of other areas in the World) had to copy from the USA. However, if there is some point in many of those products – McDonalds brings cheap food to many poor areas, and Coca Cola’s ability for unclogging pipes never stops short of surprising – there are very little reasons to buy an SUV. The upsides are easily recognisable: a slightly taller, four-wheel drive car can be useful on icy roads or for towing capabilities, the very same things any good off-roader can. In comparison with these, the SUV is slightly less resource-wasteful on the road and, in theory at least, should have the edge on maintenance costs, due to the simp...