Sales of convertibles in the UK have fallen by 90% over the past 20 years, casting doubt on their future. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing BBC News.

In the 1950s and 60s, owning a convertible showed you had style. When Hollywood deities Grace Kelly and Cary Grant were shown cruising in a Sunbeam Alpine in To Catch a Thief, they epitomised elegance. Later films like The Graduate and Thelma and Louise cemented the open-top car's position as a symbol of escapism and rebellion.

Yet today, the convertible is an endangered species in the UK. Over the past 20 years, sales of new open-tops have fallen by nearly 90%, from 109,171 in 2005 to just 11,484 last year, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

That decline has coincided with a dramatic rise in SUVs. Last year they accounted for 59% of car sales across Europe. SUVs have the kind of celebrity endorsement convertibles used to enjoy. Today, upmarket models such as the Lamborghini Urus, Mercedes-Benz G Wagon or Bentley Bentayga are favoured by reality TV stars, footballers and music artists.

What SUVs offer is some of the style and image of a convertible without the limitations, says automotive journalist Steve Fowler. "It's a simple fact of people wanting more practicality these days. I always say SUVs are sports cars for people who can't have sports cars any more. And it's very difficult to put the kids, the dog, the bike into a convertible."

Demand for open-top cars has fallen, making manufacturers reluctant to build them. "It costs so much money to build any car these days," explains Fowler. Philip Nothard of Cox Automotive Europe agrees: "Convertibles are more expensive to manufacture, for a very small market share."

One consequence is that there are now relatively few convertible models on the market, and those available tend to be upmarket. The Mazda MX-5, Mini Convertible and Fiat 500 are exceptions.

Nevertheless, the open-top car still has devoted fans. Former biker Peter West drives a 2014 Mazda MX-5: "It's the nearest thing I can get to a motorcycle. It's the sense of freedom." Steve Bassett, a member of the MX-5 Owners Club, says: "Everyone's too focused on SUVs these days. I think people should be able to come back to the simple, elegant roadster."

According to Philip Nothard, the future of convertibles depends on getting manufacturing costs down, especially as the auto industry focuses on electric cars. "The manufacturers most likely to do this are the Chinese firms. They can manufacture vehicles at much lower cost. If you're passionate about convertibles, it might be best to wait for the Chinese to take a bigger slice of the market."

There are currently only two convertible electric models on sale in the UK, one of which is built in China. The MG Cyberster is a sleek, open-topped two-seater designed to exploit the heritage of the once-British MG brand. The question is whether it remains a digital throwback to the past or heralds a new era of wind-in-the-hair motoring.