What Is a Crossover Coupe, and Which Ones Can You Buy Today?

Following the success of the X6, the original crossover coupe, and the subsequent appearance of swoopy SUVs from rival automakers, BMW released the similar yet smaller X4 for 2015. While BMW sells around seven times more X3s in the U.S. than it does X4s, the company exports eight times as many X4s than it sells here (both are built in South Carolina), more than making a business case for the coupe-y model. The second-generation X4 debuted as a 2018 model and is a huge improvement over the rather ungainly first-generation X4. A high-performance X4 M is joining the lineup for the first time, and it will be based on BMW's first-ever X3 M.

BMW's X6 is the original crossover coupe, and its simple formula is now used by nearly every competitor. Step one: Take an existing SUV (in this case, the X5); step two: chop the roofline; and step three: hike up the price. When the X6 debuted, there was nothing else like it, and we weren't convinced that it would be a likable package nor that any customers would, either. But when we first tested one, we did like it, and so did the world, apparently. Over 400,000 X6s have been sold worldwide since 2008. The X6 is nearing the end of its second generation, and BMW is readying an all-new model.

Any automaker would be crazy to pass up more-expensive variations on a successful theme, which explains why BMW wasted little time rolling out a higher-performance, higher-price X6 M for 2010. The X6 M is now in its second generation, and despite weighing 5190 pounds, a current model reached 60 mph in 3.8 seconds, pulled an astonishing 0.98 g of grip on our skidpad, and stopped from 70 mph in only 153 feet in our testing. With quicker, grippier, and stoppier SUVs available and the third-generation X6 M on its way, don't expect BMW to sit back and let its rivals have the highest-performing crossover coupes on the market.

Lamborghini's second-ever SUV, the new Urus, could not be more different in its mission than its first SUV, the LM002. Unlike that oh-so-1980s SUV, which was originally conceived as a military vehicle, the Urus is designed to be as spectacular to drive as it is to look at. Lamborghini immodestly dubs the Urus the first "super-SUV," though it's hard to disagree when the truck packs a 641-hp twin-turbo V-8 and is claimed to reach 190 mph. But styling plays an outsize role when it comes to crossover coupes, and the Lambo's looks are properly insane. Underneath, the Urus shares some structure and mechanicals with a number of Volkswagen Group SUVs, including the Audi Q8, Bentley Bentayga, and the Volkswagen Touareg.

After jumping on the crossover-coupe train with the larger GLE, whose hunchbacked frame was pointed directly at BMW's X6, Mercedes-Benz decided it needed a smaller variant to go after the compact X4. Enter the GLC coupe, which is based on the everyday GLC-class SUV. To our eyes, the GLC coupe's design is much prettier and more successful than the GLE's, with better proportions and more refined detailing. The standard coupe is only available in GLC300 trim with a turbocharged inline-four engine and standard all-wheel drive.

Beyond the GLC300 coupe, Mercedes offers the more powerful GLC43 and GLC63 and GLC63 S coupes. This AMG-tuned trio melds the GLC coupe's fastback shape with go-fast hardware. The lineup includes the GLC43, which uses a 362-hp twin-turbo 3.0-liter V-6, as well as the GLC63 models that share a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8. The "base" 63-badged GLC has 469 horsepower, while the spicier S model gets 503 ponies. Besides ruling over the GLC coupe range, the GLC63 S coupe out-accelerates every other SUV we've tested, reaching 60 mph in 3.3 seconds and flashing through the quarter-mile in 11.7 seconds at 119 mph.

It is clear that the current Mercedes-Benz GLE-class SUV was not designed from the outset with a coupe variant in mind. The GLE coupe that Mercedes went ahead and built anyway to do battle with the BMW X6 thus suffers from awkward proportions, a bulbous roofline, and an upright and non-sporty front end. It is Mercedes' first attempt at a crossover coupe and looks it. Mercedes also doesn't sell it in non-AMG form like it does with the smaller GLC coupe. The GLE43 uses a twin-turbo V-6 and the GLE63 S has a now-outdated twin-turbo 5.5-liter V-8 (most every other modern eight-cylinder AMG uses a newer twin-turbo 4.0-liter, including the smaller GLC63). An all-new model is on the way next year, and it should be more up to date—and better looking—in every way.

Compared to all the other crossovers on this list, the Toyota C-HR is distinctly un-luxurious and lacking in sporting pretense. It also is the cheapest of the crossover coupe breed by far. Still, it fits in among its ilk: The roofline is extremely sloped, the surfacing on the body is wild, Toyota hid the rear door handles near the roof, and the styling overall is expressive. Oh, and "coupe" is even part of the Toyota's name: C-HR stands for "Coupe - High Rider." Seriously. The C-HR has real character, though one man's character is another man's unidentified road-going object from another planet.