Mad about SUV cars, sales soar in Singapore - The Straits Times
"It gets me an average of 14km per litre. Mr Tong is part of a wave of motorists who have helped make SUVs the fastest-growing model segment here. According to the latest Land Transport Authority figures, 24 per cent - or nearly one in four cars - sold here is an SUV. Close to 7,000 sports-utility vehicles were registered in the first seven months - about double the 3,500 family-oriented multi- purpose vehicles sold. These two genres, together with other lifestyle models such as coupes and convertibles (1,000), now make up 40 per cent of sales - up from about 5 per cent some 20 years ago. Nanyang Business School adjunct associate professor Zafar Momin says: "SUVs and crossovers have been gaining traction globally, so this trend is not a Singapore phenomenon. He says that in the United States, SUVs and crossovers have grown from about 31 per cent of total car sales in 2009 to about 37 per cent last year. In China and Europe, their share grew from 8 to 21 per cent in the same period. "There is always going to be a larger share of SUVs and crossovers in the US because of the relatively cheaper petrol prices there," notes Prof Momin, adding that Americans have also long favoured bigger vehicles. Source: www.straitstimes.com
