Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that can help answer the question.
Query: What was the first car classified as an SUV?
According to Robert Casey, the transportation curator at the Henry Ford Museum, the 1984 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) was the first true sport utility vehicle in the modern understanding of the term, although Jeep already used the term literally in their 1974 brochures, for the original SJ Cherokee. Developed under the leadership of AMC's François Castaing and marketed to urban families as a substitute for a traditional car (and especially station wagons, which were still fairly popular at the time), the Cherokee had four-wheel drive in a more manageable size (compared to the full-size Wagoneer) as well as a plush interior resembling a station wagon. With the introduction of more luxurious models and a much more powerful 4-liter engine, sales of the Cherokee increased even higher as the price of gasoline fell, and the term "sport utility vehicle" began to be used in the national press for the first time. "The advent and immediate success of AMC/Jeep's compact four-door Cherokee turned the truck industry upside down."
Volkswagens were first exhibited and sold in the United States in 1949, but sold only two units in America that first year. On entry to the U.S. market, the VW was briefly sold as a "Victory Wagon". Volkswagen of America was formed in April 1955 to standardise sales and service in the United States. Production of the Type 1 Volkswagen Beetle increased dramatically over the years, the total reaching one million in 1955.
The Centurion name was first used on a Buick concept car in the 1956 Motorama. It featured a red and white fiberglass body, airplane-like interior design, a fully clear "bubble top" roof and the first backup camera in place of a rear-view mirror, although it was never shown to be functional. This car currently resides in the Sloan Museum at the Flint Cultural Center in Flint, Michigan.
First seen on a concept car, the Centurion was nearly identical to the contemporaneous Buick LeSabre, differing in badging and grillework, minimal chrome trim, and an absence of the VentiPorts found on other full-size Buicks. Body styles included two-door and four-door hardtops and a convertible. There were no pillared sedans. The two-door hardtop shared the handsome semi-fastback roofline with the LeSabre and other GM B-body cars (such as the Chevrolet Impala Sport Coupe and the Olds Delta 88) along with a standard vinyl roof.
In 1911, Buick introduced its first closed-body car, four years ahead of Ford, but five years after Cadillac, which was the first. The car was built at the all-new factory in Flint which later became to be known as Buick City. Buick during the 1920s made various sized vehicles, with series designations for different years, sometimes using numbers, while later years using lettered designations. One of the larger vehicles, with straight-six, was the Buick Master Six.
The Buick Y-Job was the auto industry's first concept car, produced by Buick in 1938. Designed by Harley J. Earl, the car had power-operated hidden headlamps, a "gunsight" hood ornament, electric windows, wraparound bumpers, flush door handles, and prefigured styling cues used by Buick until the 1950s and the vertical waterfall grille design still used by Buick today. It used a Buick Super chassis, indicated by the word "Super" located above the rear license plate.
It was produced nearly exclusively as a four-door sedan, from 1975 to 1986, the Grand Marquis was also offered in a two-door body style. From 1979 to 1991, the wood-trimmed Mercury Colony Park station wagon was included as part of the model line.
Ford's luxury car division, Lincoln, was part of the Premier Auto Group in the late 1990s, but was pulled out in 2002 as part of Ford's marketing strategy to separate its "import" marques from its domestic ones. During the creation of PAG, Lincoln's line-up received a complete overhaul, beginning with the 1998 redesign of the Lincoln Town Car. The same year also saw the introduction of the Lincoln Navigator SUV and in 2000 the Lincoln LS, which shared its engines and platform with the Jaguar S-Type, was introduced. All three cars were designed in Irvine, California and were, according to many critics, heavily influenced by Jaguar design themes. In both years 1998 and 2000 Lincoln was the best-selling luxury car brand in the US. After Cadillac surged back into the market in 2002, however, Ford pulled Lincoln out of the PAG in what is according to Jerry Flint of "Forbes" magazine an "impossible to make sense out of... strategy."
The Volkswagen Passat (B1) is an automobile produced by Volkswagen in Germany from 1973 to 1981.
The original Volkswagen Passat was launched in 1973. The body types offered originally were two- and four-door fastback sedans (which has abandoned in 1981) and identically profiled three- and five-door versions. Externally all four shared a modern design, styled by the Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. In essence, the first Passat was a fastback version of the mechanically identical Audi 80 sedan, introduced a year earlier. A five-door station wagon/estate was introduced in 1974. In Europe, the Passat was equipped with either two rectangular, two round units, or quadruple round headlights depending on specification.
The Passat was one of the most modern European family cars at the time, and was intended as a replacement for the aging Volkswagen Type 3 and Type 4. The Passat was "Wheels" magazine's Car of the Year for 1974 and its sister model Audi 80 was nominated car of the year by the European motor press a year earlier. The platform was named B1.
Formed in October 1955 in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, to standardize dealership service in the United States, it grew to 909 Volkswagen dealers in the US by 1965 under the leadership of Dr. Carl Hahn. Under him and his successor as president of Volkswagen of America, J. Stuart Perkins, VW's U.S. sales grew to 569,696 cars in 1970, an all-time peak, when Volkswagen captured 7 percent of the U.S. car market and had over a thousand American dealerships. The Volkswagen Beetle was the company's best seller in the United States by a wide margin.
For the 1983 model year, Ford underwent a major revision of its full-size and mid-size model ranges for both the Ford and Mercury divisions. Within Mercury, the Marquis was repackaged as its mid-size offering (replacing the Cougar sedan and wagon). While a redesigned Cougar returned solely as the counterpart of the Thunderbird, the Grand Marquis remained as the Mercury full-size sedan. For the first time since 1951, Mercury offered a single product line in the full-size segment.
In 1973, Volkswagen introduced the military-themed Type 181, or "Trekker" in Europe, "Thing" in America, recalling the wartime Type 82. The military version was produced for the NATO-era German Army during the Cold War years of 1970 to 1979. The U.S. Thing version only sold for two years, 1973 and 1974.
Sources point to different creations as the first electric car. Between 1832 and 1839 (the exact year is uncertain) Robert Anderson of Scotland invented a crude electric carriage, powered by non-rechargeable primary cells. In November 1881, French inventor Gustave Trouvé demonstrated a working three-wheeled car powered by electricity at the International Exposition of Electricity, Paris. But others regard the "Flocken Elektrowagen" of 1888 by German inventor Andreas Flocken as the first true electric car.
On April 10, 1978, VWoA dedicated Westmoreland Assembly by driving its first car off the line, a two-door white Rabbit (in "Rabbit C" or mid trim level, as with all the initial production) — which had actually been assembled the week before and was shipped after the plant dedication to Volkswagen's Wolfsburg headquarters for its museum. Toni Schmücker, Richard E Dauch, James McLernon, U.S. Treasury Secretary Michael Blumenthal, Pennsylvania Governor Milton Shapp and 1,200 employees were on hand the day the first car came off of the line. In his remarks, Schmücker, CEO of Volkswagen AG, paraphrased Neil Armstrong remarks when stepping onto the moon, saying "this may be one small step for America, but it is a giant step for Volkswagen."
In the 2000s, Buick's lineup was modified with the compact and performance segments being abandoned in favor of the crossover/SUV market which was growing in popularity. In 2000, Buick headed into the new millennium with a redesigned LeSabre (best-selling U.S. full-size car for eight straight years) and a more powerful Century. Since the first Detroit experimental car of 1899-1900, and first Flint production car of 1904, more than 35 million Buicks had been built. The 2000 LeSabre was introduced in March 1999 and was now built on GM's G platform; however GM chose to continue to refer to it as the H platform. The LeSabre was manufactured at GM's Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly factory in Hamtramck, Michigan and Lake Orion Assembly, in Lake Orion, Michigan. Some of the changes with the redesign included a new grille that did not open with the hood, and slightly smaller exterior dimensions. Despite its somewhat smaller exterior size, it still offered similar interior room and more trunk space than the previous model. 2001 saw Buick's first entry into the crossover market with the introduction of the Rendezvous as a 2002 model. In 2003, the Buick Centieme crossover concept car commemorated Buick Motor Division's 100th anniversary. Some of the Centieme's exterior design and interior features would later appear on the 2008 Enclave crossover. In 2004, Buick added the Rainier mid-size SUV and the new Terraza minivan was added a year later.
Electric vehicles seemed to be the most viable option, similar to the steam automobiles. It was first invented in the early 1800s, and became a viable option of transportation around 1890, when William Morrison created the first electric car that traveled 14 miles per hour. The electric cars offered low pollution and a soundless ride, unlike their gasoline counterparts. The greatest downside of electric cars was the range. The typical electric car could reach around 20 miles before requiring a recharge. Manufacturers could not increase the number of batteries, due to the bulkiness of the batteries at the time. Without an incentive to purchase the electric automobiles, gas automobiles was the most viable option at the time.
The legendary Ford Mustang, the first of the "pony" cars, was developed and introduced in 1964 under the guidance of Lee Iacocca (Lehigh Class of 1946), former general manager of Ford Motor Company's Ford Division. Still in production, the Mustang combined fun, performance and styling at a low price and had the most successful first year sales of any automobile. In its first two years of production, three Ford Motor Company plants produced nearly 1.5 million Mustangs, a record unequaled before or since.
In 1944, laminated glass was introduced in the PV model. After Vattenfall engineers presented their pioneering work to Volvo in the 1950s, Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin invented and patented the modern three-point safety belt, which became standard on all Volvo cars in 1959, and then made this design patent open in the interest of safety and made it available to other car manufacturers for free. Additionally, Volvo developed the first rear-facing child seat in 1964 and introduced its own booster seat in 1978.
In 1940, Admiral William Halsey recommended construction of naval auxiliaries for pilot training. In early 1941 the British asked the US to build on their behalf six carriers of an improved "Audacity" design but the US had already begun their own escort carrier. On 1 February 1941, the United States Chief of Naval Operations gave priority to construction of naval auxiliaries for aircraft transport. U.S. ships built to meet these needs were initially referred to as auxiliary aircraft escort vessels (AVG) in February 1942 and then auxiliary aircraft carrier (ACV) on 5 August 1942. The first U.S. example of the type was . Operation Torch and North Atlantic anti-submarine warfare proved these ships capable aircraft carriers for ship formations moving at the speed of trade or amphibious invasion convoys. U.S. classification revision to escort aircraft carrier (CVE) on 15 July 1943 reflected upgraded status from auxiliary to combatant. They were informally known as "Jeep carriers" or "baby flattops". It was quickly found that the escort carriers had better performance than light carriers, which tended to pitch badly in moderate to high seas. The "Commencement Bay" class was designed to incorporate the best features of American CVLs on a more stable hull with a less expensive propulsion system.
The sporty Rambler American Rally package was originally introduced in 1969 for the third-generation Rambler American two-door sedan as a more economical sporty alternative to the muscular VAM Javelin and personal luxury VAM Rambler Classic SST (Rebel SST hardtop). With the arrival of the new Hornet-based models for 1970, the package was continued and improved, containing not just more regular production accessories but also all-new exclusive ones. The Rambler American Rally model was available a full year ahead of AMC's Hornet SC/360 and two years ahead of the Hornet X and Hornet Rallye-X models, making it the first-ever performance product based on the Hornet.
Singapore Bus Service, now known as SBS Transit (SBST), was for many years the only operator of double-decker buses in Singapore, launched its first double-decker bus service on 13 June 1977 with 20 Leyland Atlanteans running on service 86 and launched by then-Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Communications Ong Teng Cheong The fleet grew steadily, with the further introduction of the Mercedes-Benz O305 and the Leyland Olympian in 1993, the latter being the first air-conditioned double-decker bus and the longest bus to date at in length, leading to its nickname of "Superbus". The Volvo B10TL, the first stepless, ultra-low-floor "Superbus" was launched in 1999. Volvo B9TL wheelchair-accessible buses began to be introduced in 2006, by 2014, SBST had over 1631 of these buses in service.
Cadillac is among the first automobile brands in the world, second in the United States only to fellow GM marque Buick. The firm was founded from the remnants of the Henry Ford Company in 1902. It was named after Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, who founded Detroit, Michigan. The Cadillac crest is based on his coat of arms.
The production of luxury models increased in the late-1990s with vehicles such as the Lincoln Navigator and Cadillac Escalade. These luxury SUVs generated higher profit margins than non-luxury SUVs did. For some auto makers, luxury SUVs were the first SUV models they produced. Some of these models are not traditional SUVs based on light truck as they are classified as crossovers.
Following the entry of China's Geely as a shareholder of PROTON in 2017, the carmaker has announced the launch of the Proton SUV Sport utility vehicle., which will be the first SUV under the marque. The car is based on the hugely successful Geely Boyue, with touches of local design elements introduced for the Malaysian market. The first batch of the locally named Proton X70 will be imported from China, with localisation plans afoot with the expansion of their Tanjong Malim plant .
Bentley's first production SUV was first previewed as the Bentley EXP 9 F concept car at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. The concept car was based upon the Volkswagen Group MLB platform, powered by a 6.0-litre W12 engine producing 600 hp. The production version was announced in July 2013. The Bentley EXP 9 F's design proved to be controversial, and it received a mixed response from the automobile press. After some criticism for the design of the EXP 9 F, Bentley announced that it would change the styling for the production version of the SUV, the Bentayga.
The initial design of the EXP 9 F was redesigned to achieve "more traditional SUV proportions and less retro surfacing." Almost four years after the Bentley EXP 9 F concept was unveiled, the Bentayga began production at Bentley's factory in Crewe, England.
During the mid-2000s, SUVs from luxury car brands grew at almost 40 percent in the United States to more than 430,000 vehicles (excluding SUV-only brands like Hummer and Land Rover), at a time when luxury car sales suffered a 1% decline, and non-luxury SUV sales were flat. By 2004, 30 percent of major luxury brands' U.S. sales were SUVs. Crossover SUVs became increasingly popular in the mid-2000s, and manufacturers also began to produce luxury versions of crossovers. The Lexus RX was the earliest luxury crossover on the market, and it has since been the best-selling luxury vehicle in the US. Some luxury crossovers are built on a platform shared with sedans or hatchbacks, for example the Infiniti FX is based upon the Nissan FM platform that also underpins other Infiniti cars. While early luxury crossovers released in the late 1990s have resembled traditional boxy SUVs, more recent crossovers, such as the Infiniti FX and BMW X6, have been designed with a sporting appearance.