It seems that 80% of the Japanese passenger car market is made up of light cars, minivans and SUVs. Sedans, coupes and station wagons are in the very minority.

In the case of Toyota, it is difficult to grasp the exact sales figures for models with many body variations, such as the Corolla and Yaris, as the figures include both SUVs and hatchbacks. For the Corolla, the Corolla Sport and Touring Wagon are also doing well, but the SUV Corolla Cross is very popular. Most of the remaining Corolla sedans are used as driving school cars, and the rest are used as commercial vehicles.

Why have sedans fallen into such a decline? Have they lost their appeal?

What are the advantages of a sedan? First of all, the comfort of the rear seats is enhanced by the trunk space in the rear overhang. Road noise entering through the rear wheelhouse is absorbed in the trunk, making it difficult for it to reach the rear seats. Also, pitching, which is the shaking in the front-to-back direction, is a relaxed movement, making it easier to improve ride comfort.

By achieving relaxed, yet efficient movement, it is easy to tailor the handling to a natural and calm ride. Furthermore, in the event of a rear-end collision, the separate trunk acts as a crash box to absorb the impact, making the cabin very safe.

However, with the advancement of technological development and analysis by automakers, it has become possible to ensure high levels of vehicle movement, comfort, and crash safety even with a hatchback body that does not have a trunk. Just as taxis have been replaced by high-roofed JPN taxis, there is little need for a sedan when it comes to space efficiency and usability. Nowadays, there are few users who want a separate trunk, and more and more users find hatchbacks to be more convenient.

In the past, cars with high off-road performance would roll unsteadily even when you turned the steering wheel, and they would take a while to start turning. They also had low steering limits and poor responsiveness, so I personally didn’t find them fun to drive on paved roads.

However, since the SUV category emerged, roll rigidity has been increased through measures such as suspension structure, geometry (movement) and strengthening of anti-roll bars, and today’s SUVs have sufficient handling performance.