In days long past, a station wagon with a modicum of black plastic surrounding its wheel arches wasn’t considered a sport-utility vehicle.

The SUV, at least in traditional parlance, was applied to what were essentially fully enclosed trucks with four-wheel drive, low range gearing, and ample ground clearance. Decades passed during which this rough definition held strong. There were Jeep Wagoneers and Ford Broncos and Toyota Land Cruisers, for example. By the late 1990s, however, the SUV term had broadened to include vehicles we often now call crossovers: car-based unibody vehicles with optional all-wheel drive and limited off-road potential.

That crop of vehicles – everything from the Lexus RX and Honda CR-V to later arrivals such as the BMW X1 and Subaru Crosstrek – quickly took over the sales leaderboards. Following fuel crises such as the post-Katrina shock in 2005, traditional SUVs have intermittently been destined for doom. But these body-on-frame utility vehicles always come sailing back on a wave of strong profit margins, unending desirability, a strong whiff of nostalgia, and the promise of outright capability.

The Canadian marketplace’s growing anti-car sentiment has done the overall SUV/crossover sector huge favours. And within that sector reside a small group of important SUVs. They’re not cute-utes. Nobody calls them soft-roaders, crossovers, or CUVs. They stay true to the original formula.

There are only 16 such vehicles. Many are prodigiously expensive; all but a handful are priced well out of each of the typical car buyer. Yet they combined for more than 5,000 sales per month during the first three-quarters of 2019, on par with figures from the prior year despite a shrinking market.

A familiar favourite nevertheless dominates the body-on-frame SUV sales charts, generating nearly half of this sub-sector’s volume. How has that iconic off-roader fared in Canada during 2019’s first three quarters, and how do like-minded vehicles perform in a market where utility vehicles produce 47 percent of all sales? With figures from Global Automakers of Canada, we have the answers.

Lexus GX: 208, down 22 percent

It appears as though the number of Canadians who want a distinctly less attractive and wildly more costly Toyota 4Runner are few and far between. To be fair, the Lexus GX460 isn’t merely a 4Runner. It offers a V8 engine and is styled so as to be visibly unrelated. Yet while 4Runner sales records consistently fall year after year, the aging GX460 has long since fallen out of favour. In fact, Lexus’s own (much dearer) LX570 is considerably more popular.

Toyota Sequoia: 457, down 17 percent

Perhaps inspired by fine wine; perhaps by corporate conservatism, Toyota likes its body-on-frame platforms to age. For a long time. Consider the decade-long runs of the previous-generation Tacoma and the current 4Runner. Or, as another example, consider the year this very Sequoia was unveiled. It was 2007, and George W. Bush had another 14 months remaining in his presidency. The Sequoia persists, though in relative obscurity. Only 3,512 have been sold in Canada over the last half-decade.

Nissan Armada: 499, down 56 percent

Nissan’s first Armada was a full-size SUV based on the first-generation Nissan Titan pickup. For attempt numéro deux, Nissan tried something a bit different. The second-gen Armada is a Nissan Patrol, the automaker’s long-running answer to the Toyota Land Cruiser. The second Armada proved to be a much more successful venture, at least until 2019 volume plunged 56 percent. Nonetheless, Nissan Canada sold more Armadas during the second-gen’s first 18 months than during the previous 30 months combined.

Cadillac Escalade ESV: 622, down 15 percent

One-half of Cadillac’s full-size SUV lineup, the Escalade ESV is a high-margin luxury SUV that’s nearly big enough to drive around with its own mobile postal code. Slipping demand in the latter portion of this fourth-generation Escalade’s lifecycle notwithstanding, the ESV remains Cadillac’s flagship in a market that’s largely rejected the brand’s cars. Across four model lines, only 862 Cadillac cars were sold during 2019’s first nine months, a 64-percent drop. Five SUV/crossover nameplates responded with a 17-percent uptick to 8,041 sales during the same period.

Lexus LX: 761, down 4 percent

In many markets, the Lexus LX570 hits dealers not as a Lexus at all but rather as the Toyota Land Cruiser. (Land Cruisers in Canada are exclusively mining-oriented vehicles not sold for on-road purposes.) That’s not to say the $111,300 LX570 would be distinctly more affordable if offered as a Toyota. South of the border, the Land Cruiser is priced from USD $85,315. Price doesn’t seem to bother LX570 customers. Fewer than 2,000 were sold during a five-year span between 2012 and 2016, but Lexus now reliably sells more than 900 per year.

Infiniti QX80: 744, down 13 percent

Japanese upstarts stole the passenger car market from Detroit and earned more than their fair share of the overall utility vehicle market, as well. But in two key segments, pickups and full-size SUVs, the battle hasn’t been so easy. The Nissan Patrol-based Infiniti QX80 is by no means an unsuccessful answer to the Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator, but even with a more attractive entry price, the QX80 can’t generate the kind of volume achieved by those two rivals. After a record 2019, QX80 volume has fallen by the equivalent of roughly 12 sales per month in 2019.

Mercedes-Benz G-Class: 1,002, up 302 percent

According to GoodCarBadCar, the launch of the first all-new Geländewagen since sometime in the 17th century has resulted in a massive surge in demand. By quadrupling its volume, year-over-year, the G-Class proves once and for all that it’s come a long way from its days as an unrefined military vehicle.

Cadillac Escalade: 1,201, down 15 percent

The Escalade was initially the result of a rapid response effort. Ford unveiled an Expedition-based Lincoln Navigator in the first half of 1997, and suddenly the perennial No.2 U.S. luxury brand was No.1 on its home turf. A year later, General Motors rushed a GMC Yukon Denali to market with little more than badge alteration. If at first it seemed underwhelming, Cadillac quickly stole the Navigator’s crown. And while sales of the Navigator now appear stronger in Canada than its late-to-the-party Cadillac rival, remember that Lincoln’s tally combines long and short-wheelbase variants. Combined, Cadillac produced 37 percent more total sales with its full-size SUV than Lincoln did in 2019’s first three-quarters.

Lincoln Navigator: 1,335, up 40 percent

In an era that sees Lexus selling sub-$40K small crossovers, “luxury” seems too weak a word to describe the fourth-generation Lincoln Navigator. Opulent? Hedonistic? Palatial? Whatever the word, it fits. The latest Navigator moved to whole ‘nuther level. So have Navigator sales. Lincoln was averaging fewer than 500 annual Navigator sales leading up to the latest Navi’s launch. Now the brand can generate that level of activity in 3-4 months.

GMC Yukon XL: 1,844, down 8 percent

The Suburban started it all for General Motors, but the GMC Yukon XL that once shared its Chevrolet twin’s name produces virtually identical sales volume in Canada (and sometimes more.) The Yukon XL’s key benefit? GMC offers Denali trims, which bring Cadillac-levels of luxury with more modest levels of badge snobbery. While Suburbans generally max out before the price rises to $90,000, one major option package alone on a Yukon XL Denali sends the price screaming past the $90K barrier. It may sound steep, but the full-size SUV buyer’s heart wants what the full-size SUV buyer’s heart wants.

Chevrolet Suburban: 1,869, down 20 percent

No, it’s not Corolla, not Beetle, and not F-150. Now coming to the end of its 11th generation’s life cycle, the 84-year-old Suburban nameplate is the longest continuously used automotive nameplate on the market. The Suburban has carved out a profitable niche for General Motors, spawning five other nameplates off the same platform (not to mention the immensely profitable and high-volume pickup trucks on which these SUVs are based.) In the mainstream-brand full-size SUV segment, the Suburban serves as the cornerstone that allows General Motors to own two-thirds of the category’s volume.

GMC Yukon: 2,167, down 17 percent

General Motors sells two virtually identical short-wheelbase, full-size SUVs in Canada. (Throw in the Cadillac Escalade as a third decidedly upmarket variant.) While sales of the top-selling GM full-size SUV are taking off in 2019, sales of the GMC Yukon have slipped noticeably. 2019 appears set to be the lowest-volume year for the Yukon since 2015.

Chevrolet Tahoe: 3,339, up 17 percent

In GM Canada’s vast lineup of six full-size SUV nameplates, the most affordably priced just happens to be the most popular. Over 11,000 of these SUVs were sold during the first nine months of 2019 – the Tahoe accounted for nearly one-third of that total. Chevrolet averaged 2,376 annual Tahoe sales in Canada during the seven years after the recession. Over 4,000 Tahoes are likely to be sold in 2019.

Ford Expedition: 3,606, up 49 percent

It was a long time coming, but Ford finally replaced the aging third-generation Expedition for the 2018 model year, and sales have boomed since. To be fair, comparing Expedition volume with sales of its GM rivals is something of an apples-to-oranges comparison. The Expedition tally takes into account both regular and long-wheelbase iterations; GM separates its full-size SUV family with different nameplates. Regardless, after averaging fewer than 2,500 annual Expedition sales since 2012, Ford Canada is on track to sell 4,200 in 2019.

Toyota 4Runner: 6,328, up 4 percent

Toyota doesn’t update the 4Runner often. 2020 sees some interior updates, for example, but the 4Runner will remain basically the same fifth-generation vehicle it’s been since debuting a decade ago. Here’s the thing: Toyota doesn’t need to update its rugged 4×4 very often. It’s more popular than ever in Canada, joining the top-selling body-on-frame SUV as the only traditional SUVs to produce mainstream levels of sales volume.

Jeep Wrangler: 20,454, down 4 percent

Fiat Chrysler’s all-important Jeep brand isn’t selling quite as many copies of the JL Wrangler in 2019 as the company did during the first nine months of 2018. But that doesn’t mean the platform isn’t contributing at a high level. The Wrangler, sales figures of which include the 4-door Wrangler Unlimited, is by far the brand’s most popular model in Canada. Plus, while Wrangler sales dipped by 855 units, year-over-year, the brand added 1,180 sales of the new Gladiator, which is essentially a Wrangler pickup.