Midsize SUVs sit between a practical family vehicle and a capable utility vehicle, but the statistics depend on the definition used. This overview separates EPA production categories from the IIHS curb-weight definition, then covers U.S. market scale, powertrains, safety, and 2025 model benchmarks.
Key Midsize SUV Statistics
The most useful figures span production, safety, and model-level specifications:
- In the 2024 model year, SUVs represented 60% of U.S. new-vehicle production across car and truck SUV categories.
- In the 2024 model year, truck SUVs represented 50% of U.S. new-vehicle production under the regulatory truck-SUV category.
- From 1975 through 2024, SUV production share rose in all but 10 years of U.S. vehicle production.
- In the 2024 model year, 14,799,239 light-duty vehicles were produced for sale in the United States.
- In 2024, average new-vehicle real-world fuel economy was 27.2 mpg for U.S. new light-duty vehicles.
- From 2023 to 2024, truck SUV fuel economy increased by 1.0 mpg to 25.7 mpg in the United States.
- In the 2024 model year, BEVs made up 30% and PHEVs 3% of U.S. car-SUV production.
- In the 2024 model year, hybrids represented 15% of all U.S. new-vehicle production.
- In 2024, SUV occupants accounted for 6,648 deaths in U.S. fatal crashes.
- In 2024, frontal impacts represented 60% of SUV occupant deaths in the United States.
- In 2024, single-vehicle rollover crashes represented 22% of SUV occupant deaths in the United States.
- In 2024, midsize SUVs had 228 driver deaths per million registered 1–3-year-old vehicles in all crashes.
- In 2024, midsize SUVs had 44 driver deaths in single-vehicle rollovers, equal to 4 per million registered vehicles for 1–3-year-old midsize SUVs.
- In the 2025 model year, the Mazda CX-90 started at $38,045 MSRP in the United States.
- In the 2025 model year, the Subaru Ascent Premium started at $39,995 MSRP in the United States.
- In the 2025 model year, the Mazda CX-90 Turbo Sport could tow up to 5,000 pounds with specified genuine towing accessories.
- In the 2025 model year, the Mazda CX-90 Turbo Select offered seating for up to eight occupants.
Contents
- SUV market scale and production trends
- Midsize SUV fuel economy and electrification data
- SUV safety outcomes and recall exposure
- Midsize SUV fatality rates and rollover patterns
- 2025 midsize SUV price, capacity, and towing benchmarks
- Definitions and measurement limits
SUV Market Scale and Production Trends
The broad market context comes from the EPA’s automotive trends reporting for U.S. new vehicles. These figures describe model-year production, not calendar-year sales or registrations, and the EPA categories are broader than midsize SUVs.
| Measure | Period | U.S. result |
|---|---|---|
| SUV share of all vehicles produced | 2024 model year | 60% |
| Truck-SUV share of new-vehicle production | 2024 model year | 50% |
| NHTSA-regulated trucks, including truck SUVs | 2024 model year | 66% |
| NHTSA-regulated cars | 2024 model year | 34% |
Source: Highlights of the Automotive Trends Report.
SUV production share increased in all but 10 years from 1975 through 2024, indicating a long production shift rather than a single-year change. The EPA recorded 14,799,239 vehicles produced for sale in the United States in model year 2024.
Manufacturer mixes varied substantially in the same year:
- Nissan’s U.S. production was 53% sedan/wagon in the 2024 model year, a manufacturer mix rather than a sales share.
- Tesla’s U.S. production was 61% car SUVs in the 2024 model year; the EPA car-SUV category is broader than midsize SUVs.
- Mazda’s U.S. production was 90% truck SUVs in the 2024 model year; this is also broader than the midsize segment.
- General Motors reduced its truck-SUV production share by 11 percentage points from 2023 to 2024, describing a production shift rather than a retail-sales change.
Source: 2025 EPA Automotive Trends Report: Fuel Economy, and Technology since 1975.
Midsize SUV Fuel Economy and Electrification Data
Fuel economy and powertrain statistics show why “SUV” is not a single technical category. EPA reporting separates car SUVs and truck SUVs, while the IIHS midsize definition is based on curb weight.
| Powertrain or measure | Period | U.S. production result |
|---|---|---|
| Average new-vehicle real-world fuel economy | 2024 model year | 27.2 mpg |
| Truck-SUV fuel economy | 2024 model year | 25.7 mpg |
| BEV share of car-SUV production | 2024 model year | 30% |
| PHEV share of car-SUV production | 2024 model year | 3% |
| BEV share of truck-SUV production | 2024 model year | 4% |
| PHEV share of truck-SUV production | 2024 model year | 4% |
The 25.7 mpg truck-SUV result was 1.0 mpg higher than in 2023. For car SUVs, the BEV/PHEV mix added 9.0 mpg to fuel economy compared with 2023; the EPA presents this as an attribution, not a causal model-level estimate.
Hybrids represented 15% of all new-vehicle production in 2024, and mild hybrids were about 35% of hybrid production. The EPA projects hybrids at 19% of new-vehicle production in the 2025 model year, which is a preliminary forecast rather than an observed result.
Source: 2025 EPA Automotive Trends Report: Fuel Economy, and Technology since 1975. The 27.2 mpg figure includes BEVs and PHEVs expressed as mpge where applicable.
SUV Safety Outcomes and Recall Exposure
Safety counts are descriptive U.S. statistics for 2024 and are not exposure-normalized unless a rate explicitly uses registered vehicles. They cover SUVs broadly, not only midsize models.
In 2024, SUV occupants accounted for 6,648 deaths in U.S. fatal crashes. Drivers represented 73% of SUV occupant deaths and passengers 26%, with the IIHS noting that the total may include other or unknown classifications.
Crash circumstances and initial impact were distributed as follows:
- Single-vehicle crashes represented 44% of SUV occupant deaths in 2024.
- Multiple-vehicle crashes represented 56% of SUV occupant deaths in 2024.
- Frontal impacts represented 60% of SUV occupant deaths in 2024.
- Side impacts represented 19% of SUV occupant deaths in 2024.
- Single-vehicle rollover crashes represented 22% of SUV occupant deaths in 2024; rollover means tipping onto the side or roof.
SUV occupant deaths increased from 417 in 1975 to 6,648 in 2024, a nearly 15-fold rise that was strongly affected by expansion of the SUV fleet. Across all 39,254 U.S. motor-vehicle crash deaths in 2024, passenger-vehicle occupants represented 58%; passenger vehicles include cars, pickups, and SUVs.
Source: Fatality Facts 2024 Passenger vehicle occupants.
Recall exposure is broader than SUV safety-fatality data. NHTSA recorded 1,073 vehicle recalls affecting 35,000,618 vehicles in calendar year 2024, covering all vehicle recalls rather than midsize SUVs alone.
Source: 2024 Annual Recall Report.
Midsize SUV Fatality Rates and Rollover Patterns
For the IIHS, a midsize SUV is a vehicle with 3,751–4,750 pounds of curb weight. The following 2024 figures apply to U.S. midsize SUVs aged 1–3 years and use registered vehicles when a rate is shown.
| Midsize SUV outcome | 2024 deaths | Rate per million registered vehicles |
|---|---|---|
| Driver deaths, all crashes | 228 | 228 |
| Multiple-crash driver deaths | 128 | 12 |
| Single-crash driver deaths | 100 | 9 |
| Single-vehicle-rollover driver deaths | 44 | 4 |
The IIHS table separately lists 569 driver deaths in single-vehicle rollover crashes for midsize SUVs. That count belongs to the rollover table and is not the all-crash driver-death total, so it should not be substituted for the 44-death figure above.
Drivetrain comparisons also require caution. Midsize 2WD SUVs had 276 single-vehicle-rollover deaths, equal to 23% of 1,213 all-crash occupant deaths, while midsize 4WD SUVs had 474 single-vehicle-rollover deaths, equal to 26% of 1,792 all-crash occupant deaths.
Those percentages are not exposure-adjusted drivetrain risks. Across all SUVs, 2WD rollover deaths were 20% of occupant deaths versus 24% for 4WD; multiple-crash driver-death rates were 39 per million for 2WD and 22 for 4WD, while single-crash driver-death rates were 13 per million for 2WD and 9 for 4WD.
Source: Fatality Facts 2024 Passenger vehicle occupants. The safety measures are descriptive and should not be interpreted as causal comparisons.
2025 Midsize SUV Price, Capacity, and Towing Benchmarks
Model-level specifications put the broader statistics into a consumer comparison, but these are examples rather than a complete midsize-SUV market average. Prices are U.S. MSRP and exclude destination, taxes, fees, and dealer pricing where the source specifies those limitations.
| 2025 model or trim | Starting MSRP | EPA mileage or power | Seating / towing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mazda CX-90 | $38,045 | Turbo: 24 city / 28 highway / 25 combined mpg | Up to 8 seats |
| Subaru Ascent Premium | $39,995 | Up to 20 city / 26 highway mpg | 7- or 8-passenger trims |
| Subaru Ascent Touring | $51,165 | Trim-specific EPA estimate | 7- or 8-passenger trims |
Source: 2025 Mazda CX-90: Pricing and Packaging and 2025 Ascent Compare Specs.
The CX-90 Turbo produced 280 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque. Its Turbo Sport version could tow up to 5,000 pounds with specified genuine towing accessories, while the CX-90 PHEV could tow up to 3,500 pounds under the same type of accessory requirement.
The CX-90 PHEV used a 17.8-kWh battery and produced 323 horsepower. The Turbo S produced up to 340 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque, conditional on recommended premium fuel.
The Ascent produced 260 horsepower and 277 pound-feet of torque. Its brochure listed maximum towing capacity of 5,000 pounds and 8.7 inches of ground clearance, with towing capacity varying by trim and towing conditions.
Sources: 2025 Mazda CX-90: Pricing and Packaging and 2025 Subaru Ascent brochure.
Midsize SUV Definitions and Measurement Limits
The term midsize SUV does not map perfectly onto every dataset. IIHS classifies midsize SUVs by curb weight, from 3,751 to 4,750 pounds; small SUVs are 3,001–3,750 pounds, large SUVs are 4,751–5,750 pounds, and very large SUVs exceed 5,750 pounds or have a shadow greater than 115 square feet.
EPA uses a separate regulatory framework: SUVs below 6,000 pounds GVWR can be classified as cars or trucks based on design and 2WD/4WD. That is why EPA car-SUV and truck-SUV production shares should not be read as midsize-only measurements.
The market figures are observed model-year production results unless explicitly described as a projection. The EPA 2025 hybrid share is a forecast, while the 2024 production values are observed or estimated as identified by the source; model-level fuel economy is an EPA estimate and actual mileage varies.