Five years ago, a split tailgate on an SUV was almost the norm. Today it’s an endangered species. The Volvo XC90, Land Rover Discovery, Toyota Land Cruiser, Lexus LX and BMW X5 have all dropped the design one by one in favor of a plain one-piece fifth door.
And the idea was genuinely clever: the top half lifts up, the bottom half folds down like a pickup’s tailgate. In a tight parking spot, it’s a lifesaver. Nothing spills out when you open just the top. At a picnic, the lower half instantly becomes a bench. For a big SUV, this was never decoration — it was a working tool. Yet automakers keep walking away from it.
Only five such models are left in the U.S. And the cheapest one isn’t a premium badge at all — it’s the plain Ford Expedition, starting at $63,600. The stretched Expedition Max starts at $66,600. Ford doesn’t hide the reasoning: combine a regular SUV liftgate with the cargo practicality of a pickup tailgate.
Next up is the BMW X7 at $87,500. And here’s where it gets interesting: now that the new X5 has lost its split door, the X7 is the only BMW left with the setup. For how long, though? Probably not forever — the brand is already simplifying body designs elsewhere, including dropping the retractable rear window on the 5 Series Touring.
The Lincoln Navigator starts at $89,995 and uses the same idea under its own name, Splitgate. The Range Rover costs even more, from $113,300 — but for this one it’s not an option, it’s DNA: the original Range Rover got a split tailgate back in 1970 and never let go of it for over half a century. The Rolls-Royce Cullinan runs past $400,000, and there the lower section pairs with the fold-out Viewing Suite seats. There’s a real difference between practicality and theater.
Why is the feature vanishing? The answer is unglamorous: cost and complexity. Extra hinges, latches, actuators, reinforcements, sensors, calibrations — the structure effectively doubles. For a mass-market SUV, that’s money wasted. For a premium one, it’s a selling point to charge extra for.
Owners who actually load gear, haul dirty boots or use their SUV as a bench would value this feature for function, not flash. But the more expensive the mechanism gets, the faster it migrates away from everyday SUVs and into the world of big, expensive machines. Before long, a split tailgate might be a luxury reserved for people who can afford to pay extra for a bench with a sunset view.
