When buyers once again return to dealer lots, they might be smart to spend on a crossover. These autos--built on a car platform with SUV-like traits--offer drivers car-like handling and high gas mileage but don't sacrifice space.
Three models from Toyota ( TM - news - people ) (two from its luxury line Lexus) and two from Ford Motor ( F - news - people ) exemplify the best the crossover segment has to offer. The $36,800 Lexus RX and $42,080 RX hybrid offer a combined 20 mpg and 25 mpg, respectively, while Ford's $28,550 Flex and $26,635 Edge each offer more than 260 horsepower and enough cargo space for any carpooling soccer mom.
But the Subaru Forester is most popular among last month's car buyers. Its sales last month were up 47.4% over March 2007, with 6,802 models rolling off lots. It's no wonder: At $19,995, it's among the least expensive of its class and offers comparable gas mileage.
Behind the Numbers These and four other models made our list of the best crossovers of 2009. To compile it, we evaluated base prices, fuel efficiency, safety ratings, horsepower and total cargo space (with seats folded flat when available) in an equally weighted system, with merit points awarded against the competition. Winners in each category received one point; runners-up received two points. The top are the 10 crossovers with the least amount of points--the cars with the lowest MSRPs but the highest fuel efficiency, safety ratings, horsepower and interior space.
Industry experts have thrown around the term "crossover" for a decade or so. The term denotes anything on a spectrum of vehicles with a unibody frame on a car platform but that maintain SUV-like traits including extra cargo space, a higher seating position and sometimes an extra seat or two in the back.
The vehicles themselves have sold well: Sales were down 36.7% last month over last year, but that percentage soundly beat declines in the mid-size sedan, pickup and mid-size, large and luxury SUV categories. Last year crossovers sold 2.1 million units--more than 100,000 units more than the closest truck or SUV segment. The name, however, has been slow to catch on, in part because of its ambiguity in marketing efforts.
"I think there're plenty of companies and ad agencies that would be nervous about that term, because I think there would be something unclear about what it means," says Karl Brauer, editor in chief of Edmunds.com, an auto research Web site. "I think what's really funny is there are people who have already gone past it, and there are other various companies who don't want to use the term crossover--they say 'SUV' or 'wagon.' It's definitely a term that's kind of caught up in all the good and bad aspects of marketing."
Still, that hasn't stopped several carmakers from creating their own labels. BMW calls its X6 a "sport activity coupe" and new 5-Series hatchback a "grand turismo." On its Web site, Toyota describes the wagon-like Venza as "more than one thing," Volvo labels its crossovers with an "XC" prefix, and Subaru says its Tribeca, based on the Legacy sedan, offers "the best of all worlds."
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