Five Door Hatchbacks - Bring on the SUC

It seems like all the car makers are doing it. I give the nod to Toyota for being first when they created the Matrix followed by the Scion series. Those ugly box cars like the xB paved the way for the trend this year.

Every car maker has one now, and take a deep breath, here is a sampling of what I mean: The Honda Fit, the Nissan Versa, the Toyota Yaris, the Chevrolet Aveo, and the Dodge Caliber.

All five door hatchbacks, all equipped with measly engines barely breaking the 100 horsepower mark, and all having price tags that start below $15,000. They are the new cars for young adults ready to break into the driving world. They sit at least 5 people and have room to spare.

This is the second attempt at appealing to the younger crowd. The first was the whole boxy car wave led by Scion, cars like the Honda Pilot, and even the Hummer. Of course, with the exception of the Scion lines, those cars were expensive, and ultimately, not a huge success. Plus, boxy cars are ugly. What they did have going for them was an extraordinary amount of interior space, perfect for carpooling and long drives.

This second wave has some of the same principles. Plenty of space for people and plenty of room left over to store belongings. In this particular case, all five people could fit weekend travel bags in the trunk. When not being used to cart people off on some weekend getaway, the cars are great for errands and chores. More importantly, they allow college students to pack the car with everything in the dorm when it's time to go home.

Coupled with a low price tag, very high fuel efficiency, and just enough zip for the young generation to enjoy (even though the engines are small in these cars, the cars themselves are very small and lightweight, which gives it a good power to weight ratio when not under load).

So what should these cars be called? Toyota promoted the Matrix as a CUV--Crossover Utility Vehicle--when it first came out. Obviously, these cars are smaller and cheaper than the Matrix. Plus, crossover vehicles can include a variety of other cars. Many sporty SUVs like the Nissan Murano are considered crossover utility vehicles. They are basically SUVs with a much lower stance, more aggressive styling, and interior space that's a little more than a car's, but much less than a true SUV's.

If that's the case, are these new genre of cars just considered Five Door Hatchbacks? How about Sports Utility Cars? And as humorous as the letterings make it (really, you have to pronounce out the letters like you would with SUV), it rings true to the intention of these new lines of cars. I personally want an SUC.

update: Here is car and driver's comparison test with the five SUC's that I mentioned above, plus others that I didn't mention http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/10925/15000-cheap-skates.html