Grand Vitara in the Market

Despite building some solid cars, like the fun-to-drive SX4 compact and the midsize Kizashi, which earned third place in Cars.com's recent $25,000 Family Sedan Shootout, Suzuki has a consideration problem on its hands: It's just not typically in the conversation along with mainstream brands like Chevrolet, Honda, Ford and Toyota, which all market competing models. That's reflected in Suzuki's sales, which are a mere fraction of those brands'.

The Grand Vitara faces the same uphill battle as its car siblings, but if you're willing to give it a look, you might be surprised by its composed ride — I know I was — and its available off-road technology will put it high on some shoppers' lists. The problem for Suzuki is that the number of shoppers who want real off-road capability in a small crossover is small — and will likely only get smaller in the future.