10 coolest SUVs coming soon: new models aim to take the 4x4 market by storm
These are fresh SUVs we can’t wait to arrive, from Skoda’s butch baby electric SUV to McLaren’s loftiest creation ever
Thought SUVs couldn’t be cool or stand out from the crowd? You might want to think again as the next generation of SUVs promise to be as practical as ever, all while retaining the cool factor.
We Brits simply can’t get enough of SUVs these days. Eight out of the 10 best-selling cars in the UK last year were SUVs, while the faithful Toyota RAV4 and futuristic Tesla Model Y have been fighting over the title of the world’s best-selling car for the past few years.
But with a new SUV being launched what feels like every other day, it’s hard to know which models to focus on, so we’ve picked out the coolest ones coming our way. There’s going to be something for everyone, from the Land Rover Defender’s long-overdue baby brother to a brand-new cutting-edge crossover that could even make us forget about Tesla’s international best-seller.
Why SUVs are so popular
It’s not hard to see their broad appeal. SUVs can offer families vast amounts of space and some of those with four-wheel drive are designed to conquer the toughest terrain out there.
Many drivers also want a lofty driving position for better visibility, while SUVs are perceived to fare better than smaller vehicles in the event of a crash. No wonder almost every major car brand has at least one SUV in its line-up, and even the most unlikely of marques, such as Ferrari, Lotus and Lamborghini, have got in on the action.
Below are the top ten coolest SUVs coming soon, listed in alphabetical order…
Bentley Urban SUV
Considering the Bentayga SUV has been Bentley’s most popular model from the moment the wood and leather-lined behemoth was introduced a decade ago, it’s hard to believe the British marque has taken so long to launch a sequel. But it’s finally happening this year, and not only will it be the brand's first-ever EV, it’s going to be the world’s first “luxury urban SUV”. Whatever that means.
It’s absolutely not a compact city-focused car, but the as-yet-unnamed leviathan will be smaller than the 5.1-metre long Bentayga at least, while the design is set to be purposeful yet elegant, taking inspiration from the bold EXP15 concept Bentley showed in 2025.
The brand’s research and development chief, Matthias Rabe, promised us the ‘Urban EV’ will be “really comfortable like the Flying Spur, agile like a Continental GT, and acceleration will be the best in a Bentley ever", because it should have about 1,000bhp on tap.
Fiat ‘GigaPanda’
Despite the name Fiat Grande Panda literally meaning big panda, the Italian marque is about to launch an even bigger car inspired by its boxy bundle of joy from the eighties. Nicknamed the ‘GigaPanda’, it will be a chunky family SUV that could even be offered with a choice of five or seven-seat configurations, and will be twinned with a coupé-esque Fastback that together “will complete Fiat’s resurgence”, the firm’s European boss Gaetano Thorel told us.
Perhaps a little oddly, this car apparently won’t use Panda in its name, but it will sit on the same cost-effective ‘Smart Car’ architecture that was introduced by the Citroen C3 and underpins the Grande Panda supermini. If it gets the same powertrains, too, there will be a choice of pure-petrol, hybrid and pure-electric versions, with the EV potentially offering around 250 miles of range.
By sharing so many components, Fiat’s new SUV should be very affordable, positioning it as an attractive, more retro, alternative to the best-selling Nissan Qashqai. It’s due to be revealed in October at the 2026 Paris Motor Show at the same time as the new Fastback.
Latest Fiat Grande Panda deals
Jeep Renegade
More than 30 Marvel films have come out in the 12 years since the Jeep Renegade was released, so needless to say it feels quite dated now. It’s also been massively overshadowed by the smaller, cuter and generally much better Jeep Avenger. Thankfully an all-new, second-generation Renegade is due to arrive in 2027 to finally give the outdoors-obsessed brand a worthy challenger to the beloved Dacia Duster.
The new Jeep will bridge the gap between the little Avenger and mid-size Compass SUVs, and like its siblings should offer customers “freedom of choice” with a variety of powertrains, including a pure-electric version for the first time. We’re certain there will be at least one model with four-wheel-drive – this is a Jeep after all, and off-road capability is still important for the brand.
We’ve yet to see any prototypes or teasers of the new Renegade yet, but our exclusive image gives you a good idea of what the square-jawed small SUV is likely to look like. The Jeep’s signature seven-slot grille will be there of course, plus plenty of chunky plastic cladding to protect you from falling rocks or rogue trollies in the supermarket car park.
Land Rover Defender Sport
Sometimes the simplest ideas really are the best, and a ‘baby’ version of the beloved Land Rover Defender is frankly a no-brainer. Expected to be called the Land Rover Defender Sport, it will offer similarly chunky styling and off-road capability as the full-size 4x4, but at a more attainable price and, perhaps controversially, it’s expected to be available exclusively with electric power.
We’ve seen various prototypes out and about testing, and our exclusive image shows what the Defender Sport should look like. It’s set to combine its big brother's familiar boxy and upright shape with some more complementary details, such as a full-width light bar and slightly sleeker nose. Meanwhile, short overhangs at the front and rear should help maximise approach and departure angles when off the beaten track, where the Defender does its best work.
The Defender Sport will be based on JLR’s brand-new EMA platform, which will also underpin the Range Rover Velar replacement that is coming soon, and (fingers crossed) should be revealed later this year.
McLaren SUV
McLaren has been toying with the idea of a SUV for quite a while, but it looks like the pride of Woking will indeed be making a high-riding, four-door thrill machine to rival those from Ferrari, Aston Martin and Lamborghini.
Former boss Michael Leiters – who is now the CEO of Porsche – had a vision of a swooping, sporty SUV that would be priced above £200,000 and powered by a detuned version of the W1 hypercar’s 1,234bhp plug-in hybrid drivetrain, which blends a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 with a high-output electric motor, and would easily set new lap records on any school run.
We heard last year that McLaren had decided to go with V8 hybrid power for its SUV, known internally by the codename P47, rather than electricity. Apparently customers showed little to no interest in the idea of an electric SUV, even one from the F1 world champions. That doesn’t exactly bode well from the four-door, four-seat Ferrari Luce EV being revealed this summer…
Mercedes GLC electric
The all-new Mercedes GLC Electric is the three-pointed star’s counterstrike against the revolutionary new BMW iX3, which much like its arch-rival, marks the introduction of the brand’s very latest EV technology and fresh styling cues.
Say what you want about that illuminated grille, with its 942 pixel-like squares, thanks to 140 individual LEDs, but it certainly makes a statement. As does the light-up three-pointed star shining bright in the centre of the grille, and the one-metre-wide screens spanning the entire dashboard inside.
Underneath, the GLC Electric features a brand-new platform with 800-volt technology for lightning-fast charging, a two-speed transmission for better efficiency and performance, and the air-suspension system from the palatial S-Class limousine. Its range of up to 406 miles doesn’t quite match the iX3’s 500 miles, although the £60k starting price is pretty close.
Porsche Cayenne Electric
The Porsche Cayenne is one of the most influential cars ever made, for its role in reinvigorating the hallowed sports-car maker in the noughties and inventing the luxury performance SUV. It’s still available with petrol and hybrid power, but now there’s an all-new, all-electric version that has asserted its dominance over its siblings by being the most powerful road car Porsche has ever made.
The Cayenne Electric produces up to 1,140bhp and 1,500Nm of torque in range-topping Turbo guise, allowing this 2.5-tonne colossus to rocket from 0-62mph in only 2.5 seconds – quicker than the Porsche 918 hypercar.
There’s more to this Porscehe than speed, though. The interior is brimming with technology and offers an enormous amount of space for passenger and luggage alike. The 3,500kg towing capacity is also a match for the almighty Range Rover, plus its 113kWh battery provides more than 400 miles of range and can be charged wirelessly. You simply park over a special charging pad to top-up the car, with no cables required. Prices start from £83,200.
Rivian R2
The bold, futuristic yet incredibly inviting Rivian R2 looks like a family SUV from the year 3000, but it’s coming to the UK in the next few years, not the next century, and the mid-size electric SUV has the Tesla Model Y squarely in its crosshairs.
This is the car that will introduce Rivian to Europe and the UK, and is the follow-up to the pioneering California-based start-up’s R1T electric pick-up truck and the R1S seven-seat SUV. The company is all about the outdoors, sustainability, functionality and a sense of fun, so there are handy features such as a torch hidden in the driver’s door and you can fully lower all four regular windows, plus the rear windscreen, for a high-riding, wind-in-the-hair driving experience.
The R2 is designed to be capable off-road, featuring lots of ground clearance, four-wheel-drive and special Soft Sand, Snow and Rally drive modes, but the brand also says it's much better to drive on road than its bigger models plus should offer more than 350 miles of range. On top of all that, the technology onboard is so advanced and so good that Volkswagen is borrowing it to use in its own next-generation EVs. Rivian is one to keep an eye on.
Skoda Epiq
Just the name Skoda Epiq has given the brand’s baby SUV a lot to live up to, but the little brother of the reigning Auto Express Car of the Year, the Skoda Elroq, is set to deliver similarly impressive levels of value, space, functionality and comfort. The cherry on top is prices are due to start from around £25,000, putting this within spitting distance of the fabulous Renault 4.
The Epiq will be unveiled in May and it’ll be the first car to incorporate all elements of Skoda’s latest ‘Modern Solid’ design language, which should give it a more rugged, chiselled look than some might expect from this brand. But there’s still going to be plenty of the firm’s handy ‘Simply Clever’ features dotted around, plus a whopping 475-litre boot, which is bigger than the Elroq’s.
Its MEB+ platform is the same one that the Volkswagen ID. Polo and ID. Cross are based on, and with the right battery and motor combo, the Epiq offers up to 267 miles of range and can be charged from 10 to 80 per cent in just 23 minutes.
Volvo EX60
If the blinding light of the GLC’s jumbotron grille isn’t to your taste – and we don’t blame you – the sleek, sophisticated and wonderfully clever Volvo EX60 is the other game-changing electric SUV launched in response to the BMW iX3.
It is, of course, the zero-emission alternative to the Swedish firm’s global best-seller, the XC60, but other than their size the two cars have nothing in common. The interior, for instance, represents a huge leap forward, with a more open and contemporary design than any other Volvo, and features a new, even more powerful Google technology that hopefully makes up for the brand’s current stuff.
The evolutionary leaps continue under the metal, where the EX60 uses the brand’s new highly scalable SPA3 architecture that will underpin its next generation of EVs and offer big benefits in terms of range, efficiency and space. The flagship P12 AWD model boasts a class-leading 503 miles of range and 671bhp on tap, plus a 370kW maximum charging speed means owners can add 210 miles of range in just 10 minutes. On top of all that, prices start from £56,360 – less than the iX3.
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