Biggie smalls: New mini-crossovers meld the best of subcompacts and SUVs

Clockwise from top left: The Nissan Juke, Mini Cooper Countryman, Ford Vertrek and Hyundai Curb.

Nissan's Juke has been on the market only since October, but it's started something: a new category of mini-crossover vehicles that are a sporty blend of subcompact cars and SUVs.

The Suzuki SX4 was one of the first mini-crossovers in the U.S. (Suzuki)

In size, mini-crossovers slide in under most current small, two-row crossovers -- such as the Honda CR-V, Ford Escape, Hyundai Tucson and Nissan Rogue -- but also offer some SUV features, such as elevated seating and all-wheel drive.

The mini-crossover "is going to be one of the hot segments," says Jesse Toprak, vice president of new-car-price researcher TrueCar.

At the Detroit auto show in January, there were three new vehicles -- a production model and two concepts -- that fit the new "Jukester" segment. BMW's Mini Cooper Countryman is the showroom model. The concepts are the Hyundai Curb and Ford Vertrek, a harbinger of where the next-generation Escape is headed.

Hyundai directly identified the Curb as its concept for a coming "Juke fighter." Ford hasn't gone that far.

Mini seldom acknowledges that it has rivals -- probably accurate in this case because of the Countryman's base prices of $22,000-$27,000, compared with the $15,000-$20,000 range expected for most new mini-crossovers. The Juke starts at just over $19,000.

Suzuki has plied this market for several years with its SX4. But Suzuki has relatively few dealers in the U.S., and hasn't had the marketing clout to ignite the segment.

Nissan says inspiration for the Juke came from Europe, where product planners saw a need for a crossover vehicle smaller than the compact Rogue, which is considered fairly big in some countries. Hyundai spokesman Miles Johnson says Hyundai has also decided there's a market for a crossover smaller than its Tucson SUV.

Pushing the car-based crossover-SUV formula into ever-smaller sizes is part of automakers' stampede to downsize vehicles. The goal is to meet tightening federal fuel-economy rules, as well as to appeal to Generation Y buyers.

The vehicles will be aimed at "youngsters, the twentysomethings," Toprak says. But, as has happened with vehicles such as the Honda Element compact crossover, they'll also likely appeal to fiftysomethings drawn to their practicality, low price and reasonably good fuel economy. The mini-crossovers' higher stance also makes entry and exit easier than in subcompact sedans.