What is a crossover?

A crossover is two vehicles — or more — in one.

The arrival of the sports utility vehicle (SUV) brought the crossover tag into the motoring world.

Originally introduced by Subaru with its Outback and Volvo with a series of Cross Country models, the earliest SUVs were regarded as crossing over from one showroom category to another.

That’s because they were four-wheel drive versions of two-wheel drive station wagons.

Things have moved on a very long way since then, however, and to distinguish traditional, rugged off-road wagons from higher-riding car-based wagons, US car-makers refer to the former as SUVs and to the latter as crossover utility vehicles (CUVs).

In Australia, although they’re all officially labelled by the industry as SUVs, we refer to wagons based on a full ladder frame (think Toyota LandCruiser) as 4WDs and to wagons based on a monocoque or unibody platform (think Camry-based Kluger) as a crossover.

The market has fragmented even more as car-makers come up with new vehicle niches, and a large number of crossover ‘SUVs’ now come in front-wheel drive form at base level.

There are also SUV-coupe crossovers that combine a coupe-like body style with a high ride height and all-wheels drive, like the BMW X2, X4 and X6, and the Mercedes-Benz GLC and GLE ‘Coupes’.

Throw in high-output M and AMG engines and these models also become crossovers that combine an SUV body with a high-performance drivetrain.

Then there are extremely niche crossover vehicles like the Range Rover Evoque Convertible, which crosses over from SUV to cabrio.

But perhaps the most extreme crossovers are the newest showroom success story in Australia — four-wheel drive, four-door utes.

These combine the basics of five-seater passenger cars with off-road 4WDs and traditional one-tonne utes for a three-way crossover vehicle.