For decades, carlike curves were in. Now, buyers are interested in sport utility vehicles that feature right-angles and off-road cred.
Before the world heard of “sport utility vehicles,” they were called trucks: Jeeps, Land Rovers and Fords, many born as military vehicles, as square-jawed and capable as a drill sergeant.
For decades, though, consumers gravitated to so-called crossover S.U.V.s, built on the bones of passenger cars, with soft curves and gentler manners suited to suburban lifestyles.
But now, in the cyclical way that the padded shoulders of the 1980s are on today’s Paris runways, a right-angled style has become a leading trend even among mainstream S.U.V.s. And a new wave of rugged electric off-roaders is defying the old fuel-guzzling formula.
The signature boxy style of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class has helped make it a global status symbol, driven by celebrities such as Drake, Simone Biles and Kim Kardashian, or by Russian oligarchs in armored trim. The Land Rover Defender, Britain’s postwar answer to the Jeep, has enjoyed a global sales resurgence after its star turn on the Netflix show “The Crown.” Toyota’s redesigned Land Cruiser traces its roots to a model the company conceived in 1950 to back up America’s Jeeps on the Korean Peninsula.
Critics may dismiss these trucks as Tonka toys for city slickers who rarely muddy their wheels. But as traditional cars fade, including luxury sedans, S.U.V.s with genuine heritage and all-terrain skills have never been more popular.
“You’ve got a number of folks who loved these vehicles, and then they kind of disappeared,” said Alexander Edwards, president of Strategic Vision, a market research company. “As Hollywood could tell you, nostalgia can generate big revenues, if it’s done authentically.”