SUV Picks For This Season

An automobile expert gives his top SUV picks for this season

- Bob Rupani

As we hopefully move from Covid-19 being a pandemic to an endemic, I am increasingly being asked by people what are the best SUVs to buy. Note I said SUV, and not car. This is because currently SUVs are the most popular and highest-selling segment of vehicles, not just in India, but all over the world. The popularity of SUVs just keeps growing with almost every manufacturer having added them to their stables. Even Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Maserati and Lamborghini are making SUVs, and Ferrari, the flag bearer of supercars, is also working on a SUV. Yes, it appears the entire world is in the grip of the ‘SUV Craze’.

While the western world with its good roads and infrastructure may not really need a SUV, India is different. Our less-than-perfect driving conditions actually make SUVs ideal for our country. Because when it rains, along with the broken roads you also have to negotiate flooded streets. After the rains too, potholes, large dips and bumps, sharply eroded road edges and huge unmarked speed breakers are very common. Broken and un-repaired stretches on the highways are widespread too and to get anywhere, especially far, you need a vehicle with good ground clearance and a rugged suspension. SUVs with their big and strong bodies also offer a sense of security and safety, and as the seating is higher, one has a dominating and better view of the road. Of course most SUVs have more space for both the occupants and their luggage, which is a big boon too.