No matter. The global market simply cannot get enough of high-riding machines with off-road pretensions that may or may not have true bundu-bashing ability. Of course, new arrivals seem to hit the market almost weekly with everyone from Maserati to Mahindra, and Bentley to BMW offering offer SUVs, faux and otherwise.
Within this segment, the fastest-growing sub-segment in turn is for compact SUVs (for the time being we'll settle on the term "SUV" as a blanket one). And having driven many of the new entrants onto the market this year, I can save you from reading further by telling you that one of the best is the new Volkswagen Tiguan.
A couple of months ago, I reported on the launch this is the first SUV from VW to be based on the MQB platform so it shares underpinnings and tech with the likes of the Golf and Passat.
It's also a little bigger than its predecessor with width up by 30 mm, and length increased by 60 mm, while height is reduced by 33 mm, and so is weight by 53 kg.
This translates into not just a chunkier profile, but vastly more interior room. Fold the rear bench and it can slide by 18 cm while it's split 40:20:40 - and the Tiggy will swallow 1 655-litres of cargo, or 145-litres more than its predecessor.
Right now just three variants are available. All use 1.4 TSI turbopetrol motors, with the two manual models making 92 kW and 200 Nm. The six-speed DSG model meanwhile, is good for 110 kW and 250 Nm.
If it's a little more muscle you want, well the 2.0 TDI engine with outputs of 81 kW, 105 kW, and 130 kW are due on the market soon. We can also expect a 2.0 TSI model making a punchy 162 kW, while the 105 kW and 130 kW turbodiesels, as well as the 2.0 TSI, will be fitted with the 4Motion all-wheel drive.
Right now, I'm rolling in a 1.4 TSI Comfortline DSG, and this is the one to go for, at least at the moment. Partly because that extra muscle - while comparatively minimal on paper - is very apparent, and partly because VW's self-shifting DSG 'box is superb. Simply superb.
Performance is also all you'll need. Zero to 100km/h comes up in 9.2 seconds, with a top speed of 20 0km/h, while petrol consumption is a claimed 6.1-litres per 100km.
It's an attractive, purposeful-looking machine this, but where it excels is in the interior. As with most VW's, and indeed most products from the vast VW family, quality is off the scale. There's also a vast list of optional extras to choose from. My test car carries a dozen of these, from panoramic sunroof to auto-actuated bootlid to adaptive cruise control to LED headlights, and for these you pay. Big.
But even in base guise, this machine is hardly spartan. Safety is well taken care of with the likes of six airbags, ESP and VW's automatic post-collision braking system which helps to avoid dangerous secondary collisions.
Of course, drive is to the front wheels only, so don't call on this Tiggy to do much more than tackle bad roads. But even owners of SUV's with continent-crossing capability seldom venture off sealed surfaces.
If you're shopping in this category and at this price level - R457 680 extras excluded - you must look at this Tiguan. I insist. Included is a three-year/120,000km warranty, and a five-year/90,000km service plan.
