Top five: Small SUVs
Looking for a new small SUV?It’s a sweet spot for buyers if Australian new car sales results are anything to go by. In fact, sales of light SUVs and small SUVs now top all of the country’s passenger car segments combined!
To make your choice easier, carsales has done all the hard work for you and thoroughly tested and examined the key contenders from a host of brands.
There are literally dozens of models that fit into this vehicle segment. We’ve driven them all and compared and scored them head-to-head across a range of criteria including safety, technology, cost of ownership, driving manners and more.
You can read our full 2021 Best Small SUV article set at the links below. Meantime, here are carsales’ Top Five Small SUVs.
Hyundai Kona
With Australian suspension and steering tune, the 2021 Hyundai Kona has the dynamic resolve and ride quality to make it a rewarding drive on most road surfaces.
While the engine is noisy when revved hard and overall is slightly thirstier than the most economical here, its six-speed auto is one of the smoothest and most decisive in the business and the Kona provides outstanding overall performance.
Add to this the comprehensive list of standard inclusions across the broad sweep of comfort, convenience, technology and safety areas and it’s hard to ignore the Kona’s appeal.
Mazda CX-30
The all-new 2021 Mazda CX-30 has light, accurate steering and above-average handling balance, making it one of the better small SUVs to drive.
The Mazda is also comprehensively featured for comfort, convenience, safety and technology, and servicing costs are not expensive – provided you don’t travel too many kilometres each year, given the 10,000km service intervals are on the shorter side.
Nissan QASHQAI
The 2021 Nissan QASHQAI is one of the more involving drives here, lacking excessive body roll and benefiting from well-weighted steering (albeit slightly indirect and lacking in feel) and not-too-firm ride quality.
The Nissan has loads of gear thrown at it, with just about all the luxury fruit, safety and tech equipment you could ask for, and is relatively inexpensive to own.
The 2.0-litre engine gives just adequate rather than sizzling performance on the open road, and is on the thirsty side. Look for an all-new version early in 2022.
Ford Puma
The 2021 Ford Puma has an efficient, responsive engine tied to a well-sorted dual-clutch transmission and an almost sports car level of handling – making it the most dynamic small SUV in our top five.
Despite the handling prowess, the ride is not nearly as refined nor compliant as many small SUV buyers will demand.
While there are plenty of comfort and convenience features, and servicing and tyres are inexpensive, the omission of standard active cruise control (it’s an option) is a surprise.
Toyota C-HR
The 2021 Toyota C-HR has the cheapest service costs of any SUV here, and if you don’t like it after a year of ownership, its RedBook resale projection suggests it’s the only model here that offers a good chance of getting back a fair slab of what you paid for it.
Great road manners are marked by responsiveness and composure while absorbing bumps well. And safety is well covered off, with a 2017 five-star ANCAP rating and seven airbags including a driver’s knee airbag.
The Toyota has most of the standard equipment you’d expect, yet lacks glamour items that are standard in others such as a sunroof, power seat adjustment and head-up display.
Toyota C-HR in the new car showroom
Search used Toyota C-HR on carsales
Now see the results of our recent Best Small SUV for 2021
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