Small SUVs in focus as Citroen, Hyundai, Kia and Seat ready challengers

Europe's small SUV segment is about to get a lot more crowded as automakers unveil new challengers in the booming sector. At this month's Frankfurt auto show, Hyundai, Kia, Citroen and Seat will debut their latest entries in a segment that is forecast to almost double to 2.2 million sales in 2021 from 1.16 million last year.

The segment is "a very hot market," IHS Markit principal analyst Ian Fletcher said.

The Citroen C3 Aircross, Hyundai Kona, Kia Stonic and Seat Arona will have their public unveilings in Frankfurt on Tuesday, September 12.

They will join a segment that can trace its explosion in popularity back to 2010, when Nissan launched the Juke.

Since then, the Renault Captur and Peugeot 2008 have found success attracting buyers looking for high-riding cars in a downsized format. Despite their late arrival, executives at the newcomer brands expect their challengers to win sales from established rivals. The Citroen C3 Aircross "is much more than a new model in Citroen's range. For us it is a further accelerator in the global transformation of the brand," CEO Linda Jackson said at a press event for the car in June.

Hyundai Europe Chief Operating Officer Thomas Schmid said the Kona will play a key role in the brand’s bid to become the region’s top-selling Asian brand by 2021.

Unlike the Tucson and Santa Fe, the Kona is more playful because it has been designed to appeal to younger customers. It also comes with the option of four-wheel drive, which is not available on all models in the segment.

When talking about his brand's forthcoming small SUV, Kia Europe Chief Operating Officer Michael Cole said: "As the segment expands, the Stonic looks set to become one of our best-selling cars."

High tech

Both the Kona and the Stonic will have technology normally seen on larger cars to appeal to customers downsizing from the compact hatchback segment. The Kona is the first Hyundai in Europe to offer a head-up display. The Stonic's driver assistance technology includes automatic emergency braking, a system that automatically switches between high beams and low beams, and driver attention warning.

To remain on the shopping list of minivan fans, automakers are also giving their small SUVs practical features. For example the C3 Aircross, which replaces the C3 Picasso minivan, is available with a sliding rear seat that either expands the trunk space or gives more rear legroom.

Citroen claims the Aircross has best-in-class cabin space. As with its Hyundai and Kia rivals, the C3 Aircross will offer advanced technology, including wireless smartphone charging, keyless entry and a camera to help when backing the car.

The C3 Aircross, which was shown as a concept at the Geneva auto show in March, uses the same PSA Group platform as the Opel/Vauxhall Crossland X, which went on sale earlier this year and reached sales of 5,117 through June, according to JATO Dynamics. Opel intends the car to be a replacement for the Meriva minivan and is marketing to people looking for a combination of style with practicality, such as parents with school-aged children.

'Emotional thrill'

Volkswagen Group's Seat brand hopes the Arona's sturdy design with cladding on the wheel arches and side skirts will help it win buyers. The SUV will offer the "emotional thrill" that drivers once looked for in three-door hatchbacks, Seat said.

Seat President Luca de Meo is counting on SUVs, which generally have higher profit margins than hatchbacks, to maintain the marque's new-found profitability. De Meo wants SUVs to account for 30 percent to 35 percent of the marque's global sales, up from about 5 percent now.

In keeping with Seat's ambition to become the go-to mass-market brand for connectivity, the Arona will offer Apple Car Play, Android Auto and Mirror Link, along with safety and comfort features such as adaptive cruise control, driver fatigue recognition and multi-collision braking.

The Arona will join the Ateca compact in Seat's SUV lineup. Seat is expected to add an as-yet unnamed midsize SUV to its lineup next year.

The VW brand will unveil its latest SUV, the T-Roc, in Frankfurt, but the model will compete in a class above subcompact SUVs, sitting below the VW Tiguan but above a small SUV planned by VW in the near future. VW classes the T-Roc as a Golf-sized SUV. At 4234mm in length, the car is shorter than the Golf (4349mm), the Tiguan (4486mm) and the Ateca (4363mm). The T-Roc will share components with the Audi Q2.