So the Chevrolet Trax, Buick Encore, Fiat 500X, and Toyota Rav4 are trucks? Not a chance. The full term is pickup truck, which the Cayenne and similar vehicles are not. You say "Pickup Truck" to anyone they picture a vehicle with a bed (queue the El Camino crowd). The designation SUV exists because these are not trucks, they are SUV's which was a marketing term to avoid calling them wagons.

Some will argue the line is drawn between anything based on a car platform VS a dedicated SUV platform.....how absurd do we want to get with this thread?

Who really cares? At the end of the day, no matter what anyone calls it, you have a very nice Volkswagen Toureg Porsche Cayenne in the garage.

Just time to admit you drive a very capable offloading station wagon.
Perfect example is the Mercedes GLA which is marketed in the US as an SUV while it's sister vehicle the Infinity QX30 which rides a bit lower is being touted as a nice wagon by reviewers:

"It's the beautiful E class everywhere else except here, because you people won't buy hatches. However, you are addicted to small, sporty, premium SUVs, so they jack it up two inches, put a skid plate on it, call it an SUV, and sell them like hotcakes"

 

No, not every SUV is a truck. Period, case closed.

There are so many over puffed cars moving into the SUV or CUV category that that statement is folly to the extreme.

Would you call the Fiat 500X a truck? Or the Mini Countryman? Or even the Subaru Forrester? Nope. None of these UVs (put the S or C in front as you see fit) are trucks.

Neither is the Cayenne.

 

The little tiddlers aren't SUVs... they are jacked up station wagons for people who don't want to admit they drive a station wagon-and they call them crossovers even though they don't cross-over anything. A pickup type of truck, it does not define what a truck is. There are box trucks, tow trucks, semi trucks, etc. And a van is a truck. The Chevy LUV and Rabbit pickup are trucks, so is a Honda Ridgeline.

 

They are being sold as SUV's. Insurance companies are classing them as SUV's. Agree or not, the industry considers them SUV's. The Mercedes / Infinity comparison shows how absurd all this classification stuff really is.

There are sub-classes of trucks.
Tow trucks are the same bed based pickup with a different back end. Vans too ride on the same chassis (which goes back to the body on frame argument) and don't tell any Semi owner they own a "truck" - they will admittedly explain how their rig is a tractor.

Call what is in your garage whatever you want to make you feel better about your purchase. Bottom line, 4 doors + hatch is a wagon in my book

IMO every 4-door with a rear opening into the cabin (usually refereed to as a hatch) fall into this. Up in the air, down on the ground...same difference. They are all the same style of vehicle. The "classic" wagon was defined as having a 3rd row....like the larger SUV's.

The most common way to differentiate all this is how the vehicle is constructed. Body on frame or not... but we already covered this.

 

I understand that on paper to an insurance company it may be an SUV, but I absolutely can not call it a truck. I think you have sold me over to the wagon camp now. The pig must be the most badass one on the market. I am curious what our friends in Northern Europe have to say who don't have the same hangup as most North Americans about the 'W' word.

Most of my other vehicles are in a clearly defined category (and thusly have major pros and cons), but the pig does it all pretty well and as shown by the vote is in the grey area. I think it's a refreshingly good thing and supports the fact that it does many tasks well for a large audience.

Atypical:
-A vehicle that pulls almost 8k pounds, but is unibody.
-A vehicle that comes with 21 inch wheels from the factory, but has a 30 degree approach and departure angle.
-Holds only 4 adults, but gets 14-16mpg.
etc.

It is kind of a mystery wrapped in an enigma in a wagon with a lifted roof and 4wd when you really try to break it down.

 

Well let's see, I just loaded up mine with 2 full sets of wheels with tires for my RS. That's a truck in my book. :-)

 

My '02 Tacoma 2.7L 4X4 is a truck. I can squeeze it through brush, the low range is great for precise work in close quarters, and I don't worry about scratches. It is dead solid reliable and in eight years of ownership I have hardly ever had to repair it, except for two exhaust systems and one front calliper, and two sets of tires.

I tow a variety of light duty trailers with it, but it doesn't have the suspension or the brakes for heavy loads, even though my son rigged it with electric brakes and towed his stripped-down BMW three hours to Mosport Raceway on an aluminum trailer for a season of PCC meets.

The '04 Cayenne S he found for me in Vancouver is not a truck. It holds more than two passengers. I can't claim it as a farm vehicle for that reason. I have spent the bulk of my free time repairing the thing, so I doubt if anyone will claim truck-like reliability for a Pig.

From videos I have watched, it seems a 5000 pound Pig will bog down far too easily in soft terrain. My 3300 pound Taco will plane over snowdrifts in 4LO, 4th gear at 4K rpm. It has shown amazing ability to get home from ice fishing across a heavily-drifted lake, every bit as good as its 4Runner companion.

But last summer my son loaded the contents of an apartment into a 20 X 8.5 enclosed trailer and towed it to 2900 miles Kingston in 3.5 days to drop off his co-driver. The towing performance of that '04 Cayenne S led me to ask him to find me another for my own use.

The Cayenne is not a truck, but it's a lot more powerful in all respects than my Taco.

But the thing is: I drive "Ruby" whenever I can. The truck is #4 on the depth chart behind my Ranger UTV and the family Lexus es.

 

I suspect they'll call it a saloon.

 

I suppose that depends on how you define badass. In general, though, I think the Bentley Bentayga has that title for the moment, in terms of performance, anyway.

Though, I think it has a face only a mother could love. Bleh. I'd take a CTT S over it any day... except maybe that Tiffany Blue one on another thread (Boardman Blue, actually).

Awww, isn't that cute.

When you toss a couple of yards of mulch in the back or a couple thousand pounds of yard rock in the back, then tell me about it and I'll believe it's a truck.

 

$50,000 pickups don't haul rocks in the bed. They tow big-*** hydraulic dump trailers loaded with as much as a single-axle dump truck used to hold.

The day I see a Cayenne at the quarry with a dump trailer picking up even a single yard of gravel, then I'll call it a truck.

 

Yard and Garden place, not a quarry.

Not a full yard, just one scoop from a Bobcat.

Decorative stone, not gravel.

No pics, didn't think of it.

But it still isn't a "truck". Here's a couple of questions:
Do you drive it down streets that are posted "No Trucks"?
Do you drive it in the left lane on highways that are posted "No Trucks in Left Lane"? Or in express lanes marked "Cars Only"? (these two are common in major metro areas)

I drive a truck for a living. 75' long, 13' 6" high, 8' 6" wide. Grosses up to 80k pounds. The front part that detaches is the tractor, but the whole thing is commonly called a "Big Truck" by the folks that drive them.

I don't know exactly what a "SUV" or "SAV" or "Crossover" is. Those are mostly marketing terms. As was pointed out, they are mainly station wagons that sit a few inches higher so that guys won't feel emasculated driving them.

 

Truck = a truck with a bed for hauling. Cayenne is a SUV. "case closed"

 

I think the versions prior to 2011 are trucks, the later ones cars, seems like the philosophy changed.

 

As a long time TRUCK owner (many GM 1500 and 2500 pickups) I generally don't refer to a Cayenne as a truck.

However, compared to the other cars I own (Cayman, Boxster, and a GTI), the Cayenne will likely be referred to as "the truck" in my house since I've traded in my 1500 GMC on one.

 

Technically, and according to Wiki, an SUV is considered a light truck.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport_utility_vehicle