Originally Posted By: bepperb
I think if it were raised two inches and marketed as an SUV it would have sold better, even if everything else was the same (interior room and offroad capability).
Good point. This HR-V actually screams "Dodge Caliber" to me, in concept. Even the overall shape. If you flashed the first auto show picture of this HR-V (in the link) to my screen for a quarter of a second and asked me what I just saw, I'd say the Caliber. I love the idea of the Caliber. I like small-to-midsize cars. They're just too limiting for my lifestyle. I want a hatch. I want to be able to carry things. I want to be able to throw my bike in the back and not worry about it in a parking lot. The Caliber is that. It's that small-to-midsize sedan with a hatch on it.
That's what my CR-V is to me...or it's the closest vehicle to that mold that also meets other criteria of mine. I like that it has AWD (it's great fun in the snow), but I could care less about its Trail Rated capability. It takes us to the back of the lake and back, but an Accord could do that as well. What I like about it (and about cars like the Crosstour and Toyota Venza) is they're essentially sedans with liftgates. They're the modern station wagon, which largely isn't offered anymore.
Not to take this too far off topic, but Subaru is squarely on my radar these days. Not that I'm in the market for a vehicle, but if I suddenly were, I'd be looking at a lot of what they have. Not for their AWD, not for their ground clearance, not for any perceived or real reliability. But because they offer an affordable and efficient wagon platform. I like the XV Crosstrek. The HR-V seems similar in notion to the XV, though probably marketed to more of an "urban" audience rather than an "outdoorsey" audience.