The sunroof is one of the auto industry’s classic trade-offs: a smaller peek at the sky than a convertible in exchange for the snug security of a real roof on a nasty day. And it doesn’t muss one’s hair.
There is even a bit of variety in the market.
The owner of a Land Rover Discovery can have two–one for front- and one for rear-seat occupants. The owner of a 2001 Subaru Forester can have one that’s 31 inches long, instead of the 17-inch sunroof on the Legacy GT sedan.
Someone who buys a 2001 Mercedes-Benz ML320 or ML430 can have the optional $2,450 louvered sunroof that opens up practically the entire roof to the sky. But it’s being discontinued for the 2002 model year because it has only a 3 percent order rate.
The Mercedes-Benz C-Class sports coupe for 2002 has a “panoramic sunroof” that allows a view of the sky from the windshield header to the rear of the car. Three glass sections include a front that pops up to deflect wind, a midsection that lifts up and slides back over the rear section, which is fixed.
And there may be more variety on the horizon. It depends on whether the new General Motors’ Hummer H2 will have the Hummer-sized, power-operated canvas sunroof that was on the concept vehicle. We’ve seen canvas sunroofs before on concept cars, and once on a production car, the Renault Fuego, sold from 1980 to 1985. The 1997 Plymouth Pronto concept had a roll-back canvas sunroof, but they haven’t translated to production vehicles yet.
And two General Motors 2001 concepts have novel sunroofs. The GMC Terracross has three glass segments that can be moved electronically to various positions and can stack on top of each other, opening up to two-thirds of the roof . When moved to their most forward position, the roof segments create an open cargo box at the rear of the vehicle.
The Cadillac Vizon has a large power sunroof that opens two ways. The front panel angles up for venting, and the larger rear panel retracts into the roof.
Full-size vans, pickups and large cars have the fewest sunroofs. Sunroofs are found mostly on vehicles in the luxury and near-luxury segments, said Richard Bongiorno, manager of the product research group, J.D. Power and Associates, a marketing information firm, headquartered in Agoura Hills, Calif.
Not surprisingly then, 93 percent of people who own what Power calls “international luxury” vehicles have sunroofs, and 89 percent of people who are buying vehicles in that segment want a sunroof. Vehicles such as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Audi A6 and A8, BMW 5- and 7-Series and the Lexus GS and LS 430 comprise this group.
In the near-luxury segment, 86 percent of vehicles have sunroofs and 84 percent of buyers want one. Vehicles in this segment include as the BMW 3-Series, Lexus ES and IS 300, Audi A4, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Lincoln LS and Cadillac Catera.
Following close behind that is the luxury sport-utility segment, Bongiorno said.
People who have vehicles with sunroofs like their vehicles more than people who don’t, according to Power’s Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) study, which measures what consumers like and dislike about their vehicles.
“Vehicles equipped with moonroofs or sunroofs tend to receive scores 51 points higher than vehicles without this option,” Bongiorno said.
Though “sunroof” and “moonroof” often are used interchangeably, a sunroof is technically a solid metal retractable panel, usually painted the same color as the body of the vehicle.
A moonroof is a tempered safety glass panel that pops up or retracts, said Mark Pauze, director of marketing and communications at ASC Inc. in Southgate, Mich. ASC has been installing sunroofs since its founding in 1965.
ASC is a specialty vehicle company that provides automotive design and engineering services to automakers. Services include building sunroofs, and engineering vehicle conversions such as the Toyota Camry Solara and producing convertible tops for vehicles such as the BMW Z3.
ASC developed the first glass-paneled sunroof, or moonroof to be precise. The company also developed the first factory-installed power sunroof, which was in the 1968 Mercury Cougar.
The sunroof phenomenon came from Europe to North America, Pauze said. When ASC began installing sunroofs, they were shipped from Europe to an ASC plant in North America, which was built near an automaker’s plant. (Ford was the first automaker that ASC worked with.) Automakers shipped the vehicle to ASC, where a hole was cut in the roof and a sunroof was installed.
Today sunroofs are stamped and installed on the automaker’s line.
“You don’t see anybody who is moving cars around to have the sunroof put in, unless it’s in the aftermarket,” Pauze said.
Pauze believes the numbers of vehicles with sunroofs are increasing, and the company is projecting sales to continue to grow. The European and Asian automakers have been leading the way, but U.S. automakers are catching up.
J.D. Power figures show that overall, sunroofs have grown to 29 percent of automobile market from 21 percent in 1996 and it projects sales to increase another 27 percent 2005.
Sunroofs help the resale value of cars, said George C. Peterson, president of AutoPacific, an automotive marketing company headquartered in Tustin, Calif. Kelley Blue Book values show that a power sliding moonroof receives the best resale value, returning $700 after one year to $350 after four years, he said. Sunroofs haven’t evolved too much, other than to work better, Peterson said.
“They don’t leak, and they’ve become available on almost every type of vehicle,” he said
Differences mostly have to do with the way they operate and their features.
“The first would just slide back and forth,” Pauze said. “Now they vent as well as slide. You can get auto-close and auto-open and rain sensors. It has gotten more sophisticated.”
The real evolution may be ahead. The next frontier is developing sunroofs for vehicles that are a cross between a sport-utility and station wagon or sports car, Pauze said. While reluctant to share too many details about future projects, he did say that these sunroofs possibly would be bigger than traditional sunroofs but not as open as convertibles so owners wouldn’t lose the functionality of a roof rack.
THEIR PLACE IN THE SUN
According to J.D. Power and Associates, here are some figures for use of sunroofs in autos by various segments:
– Premium compact: In 1996, 17 percent had the feature. That rose to 24 percent by 2000. In 1996, 47 percent wanted a sunroof. That figure was 52 percent by 2000.
– Lower midsize: In 1996, 27 percent had a sunroof; by 2000, 41 percent had it. In 1996, 57 percent wanted it; by 2000, 59 percent wanted it.
– Upper midsize: In 1996, 28 percent had the feature; by 2000, 40 percent had it. In 1996, 45 percent wanted it; by 2000, 52 percent wanted it.
– Mid-sporty segment: In 1996, 40 percent of respondents had a sunroof; in 2000 that was 41 percent. In 1996, 68 percent of respondents wanted a sunroof; in 2000 that was 64 percent.
— Cheryl Jensen
