Trucks have been bestselling models for literally decades.
It’s because there’s a 25% tariff on importing trucks. It was put in place nearly 60 years ago by Lyndon B Johnson; it’s called the “chicken tax” because the excuse for passing it was as a retaliatory tariff against France and Germany taxing American factory farmed chicken.
Because of the chicken tax, fairly few foreign car companies in the US sell pickups.
And because being a “best selling” model is good marketing, truck makers generally sell very few models of truck. For example, the best selling vehicle right now is the Ford “F series”. So that’s the F150, F250, and F350, in all of their assorted trims. There’s a couple other models they sell - the Maverick and the Ranger - but most of the trucks Ford sells are F series.
So a truck driver has been much more likely to drive a F-series for decades than a car driver was to be driving a Civic.
Don’t forget the insane fuel efficiency calculation that rewards larger, less efficient trucks over the smaller more efficient ones we used to have. It’s the reason even an f150 is gargantuan compared to ones of the past.
Mind if hijack your comment to clarify a doubt I have?
In the early 2000’s I had an acquantaice move to the US, somewhere in California.
After driving a typical american car for about six months, that person came to Europe, bought a hot hatchback, bolted on it every aftermarket part available for the car, had all the mods approved by the manufacturer and imported it, which awarded them a very high power/low consumption vehicle when compared with the standard american market, and I was told all the money spent was recouped in a few years.
People (Men especially) think their status in life depends on their vehicle. They just can’t get over the idea that bigger is not always better. It’s how you use it that matters.
In all seriousness, vehicles have been a status signifier ever since they were created and everyone loves to say that they are better(richer) than the Joneses next door. Being bigger and taller than others is viewed as good in society and in vehicles.
Its not exclussively their fault. There have been years of propaganda from big auto corporations where the only way you can be a productive and resourceful man, is if you own a pick up truck. One truck commercial basically claimed if you buy their truck you immediately become more dependable, resourceful, and attractive, which ulitmately implied it would increase your chances of finding a partner.
In Australia you have to pay registration per vehicle even though you can only drive one at a time. This means people will buy a big vehicle that they might need occasionally instead of having a big one and a small one.
No. I just mean that it would make more sense to pay a fee to drive any car rather than rego for each. That way you could have a small car for around town and a bigger car for when you need to go further afield without having to pay two lots of registration fees.
This logic is usually beat out by the existence of rental services. Is a couple hundred bucks a year to rent a truck when you need it really more expensive in the long run than owning and fueling $50,000+ truck year round?
I’m going to point one that hasn’t been mentioned. Infrastructure.
Highways, roads, streets have way too many lanes that are way too wide. This encourages drivers to drive faster. Faster driving makes overall the roads and vehicles to feel more dangerous, because they are. People’s response is to want and acquire larger, heavier an faster vehicles that make them feel safer in those hostile roads.
This is what contemporary urbanism is talking about when they say that infrastructure determines behavior. You can alter people’s behavior by changing the shape of infrastructure.
The problem in most of the western world is that the answer of authorities (heavily misled by car and oil industry) has been to make more lanes that are wider. In the false belief that this would make roads safer. When in reality the result is the opposite. Other measures like police enforced fines, speed limits, etc. Are also useless to mitigate the lack of safety and carry a huge set of problems with them like systematic discrimination and endemic corruption.
The answer is to make narrower lanes, with fewer lanes in densely populated area, less parking, traffic calmed and car traffic banned zones. Protect bicicles and pedestrians with concrete traffic segregation. Impose aditional fees and taxes for vehicles above a certain weight and parking space take up. Those things will signal people that it’s fine to drive a smaller, slower vehicle, it’s fine to use public transport instead. Along with more public transport options available.
I get what you’re saying, but have you ever driven in Italy? The lanes are terrifyingly narrow compared to the UK, but the drivers are far more reckless!
We got here because fuel economy requirements are tied to the size and type of vehicle, and so it’s easier to make and sell larger, less efficient vehicles.
Why make a smaller vehicle with a smaller margin that requires more engineering time to reach fuel economy standards when you can sell a larger, often more expensive vehicle that has the same fuel economy as last year’s model?
Consequently they have become best selling vehicles because there are increasingly fewer small vehicles on dealer lots to purchase.
Wow, what great consumer choice! The capitolists are only making the goods consumers want and cutting out the fat. Theres literally no strings attached! What an amazing system we have. /s
That explains why manufacturers focus on making these vehicles, but not why people aren’t buying cars. There are many cars available to buy, less so than before, but still plenty.
My guess is it’s that people are too susceptible to marketing. Some people see huge vehicles as a status symbol, and parents see them as safer.
A long time ago, I saw a documentary about how marketing changed. Vehicles (and everything else) used to be marketed in a matter-of-fact manner listing off capabilities, features, and specs. Now, marketing is mostly about emotions and convincing people to buy products to “express themselves.” That’s how they got the “anti-establishment” hippies to start spending money on colorful vehicles, new fashion items, etc.
I’m sure marketing has a significant impact, but let’s also look at Ford as an example. They are ending production of all passenger cars except the Mustang, and will now only produce trucks, SUVs and other larger vehicles. I’m sure other manufacturers will follow along, reinforcing the trend of buying larger vehicles by limiting choice.
I just traded my 7 year old corolla for a suv (mainly because of awd for winter driving) This much larger vehicle has better fuel economy than that little car.
We should make a distinction between full sized SUVs and small to medium that are more like tall cars
I upgraded from an older Civic to a Subaru Forester and improved my gas mileage! I also got all wheel drive, lots of modern technology and a vehicle more suited for poorly maintained roads. Most importantly, as a larger guy with bad knees, it’s a world of difference in head and leg room. As a guy with two teenagers, it’s an actual four-seater car. I never want to go back to cars where I need to contort myself to get in and out, and worry about how uncomfortably cramped the back seat is for my passengers …. Tesla, I’m talking to you too.
So, I also upgraded to a larger vehicle, but I’m hoping this article focuses more on excessively large vehicles
Bed is too tall and too short, and four full size doors on a mini truck are entirely unnecessary. Four doors on any truck is ridiculous, and it looks like they’re not made for work at all but for weekend Costco runs
Even our cars are getting noticeably bigger. It’s a stark difference if you see old refurbished cars from the 80s compared to their contemporary counterparts.
Ireland and the UK are headed this way, if not there already.
The pickups make everyone look like posers but the SUVs are decent enough. I drove a couple, I wouldn’t say there is more space but seeing them on the road so often makes me consider it the safer option for a family car. I don’t want to going under one of them in a crash. That said I only think that this is how their popularity explodes.
The number one selling car in Ireland has been the Tucson for the last number of years.
It used to be mondeos, S90s, corollas now it’s Kugas, Tucsons, Sorrentos, XC40s, and RAV4s.
Not to mention the absolute loser in Ford Rangers and Raptors. I can see the use in the SUVs but the Hilux and Raptors are such small dick energy. Lads in construction that don’t do work.
As an American, Tucsons and Rav4 are the small SUVs. Just wait until you have people that barely know how to drive riding around in Suburbans and Sequoias
I have driven my mother’s little Juke around the US. I, personally, find that it is a peppy little thing, though it resembles an angry frog.
I may have gotten lucky, but never had a problem with it through a couple Midwest winters.
I’m just glad she isn’t driving a big ol Jeep or Escalade, which she would choose if left to her own devices. She is a small woman and thinks a big car gives her an advantage. Over what? I don’t know. I guess boomers are gonna boom.
I remember last time I was in London (in the '00s), the streets are so narrow that the bus couldn’t get up the hill to the house where I was saying because too many cars were parked on the road and it wouldn’t fit. So I imagine SUVs in London are a nightmare.
And this wasn’t even central London, this was Harrow.
My wife has a Toyota Rav4 SUV. I don’t love SUVs, but I do admit it’s been really useful for hauling stuff and it is 4WD so it’s much safer in the winter than my smaller Prius.
Now I like tiny cars. My Prius is too big for my comfort level a lot of the time. My dream car is an electrified Nash Metropolitan. But I do have to admit having an SUV has been useful, and with a family of 3, we can still all go to my daughter’s friend’s house and pick her up and take her to breakfast without having a monster-sized pickup truck.
I don’t know if it’s still possible, but (I think) the Lowes chain of hardware stores had rentable pickup trucks. That should be more common. Maybe it would encourage fewer purchase of pickup trucks.
That’s exactly it. They are actually less safe, but feel more safe, since you sit higher up. They also make smaller cars seem less safe, so it ends up being an arms race.
It’s the same in Australia. Tax incentives given to businesses during the pandemic mixed with a large influx of yank tanks available on the market means that there are heaps of these monster trucks getting around. I honestly don’t know how they cope, the roads and parking around here aren’t designed for such large vehicles and this is out in the countryside; I can’t see them fitting in narrow city streets.
Yeah I’ve seen Trucks more often in Sweden as well as other SUVs. The most common car used to be a station wagon of some sort but it seems to be more compact suvs now too
Yeah, I did a double-take on the headline and point of the article, seeing the Civic as the first on the list.
I’m not sure I agree with most, but I’m not counting: certainly they have a point.
I live in a part of the US where big cars are less common, but I’m truly amazed at the number of people driving full sized pickups as a regular car. I mean, I also think they would be useful a couple times a year but they look damn inconvenient every other day.
Just yesterday, I was walking around our town center with my kid, and we had a bit of a debate about whether a certain truck was parked on the sidewalk, or if there was a valid parking spot it was too big for and too poorly parked
No but their no longer crammed up shoulder to shoulder,.oh yes let’s not forget the car seat for the toddler and the ever growing 11 year old. What kind fucking stupid comment is that?
TLDR or TLDW: the government did it by making incentives for suvs and trucks. Cars are regulated harsh for efficiency while suvs and trucks are exempt.
This made profit margins for suvs and trucks large, and smaller cars are almost non-existent.
I’ve always wondered what you need that big a car for, unless of course if you live somewhere in the wilderness of nomandsland.
Here in Europe it is rather rare to see a truck, which I guess makes sense as don’t have as wild and unsettled nature as the USA, and that our parking spots are too small for trucks.
The cabin is likely larger than the bed or if not, off by foot. because of Redneck Luxury > Utility.
Can you imagine the engineers at Nissan, they must have had trouble releasing this vehicle because since day one draft to first production they were laughing at the ‘u like hotdog u like hamburg big fat americans’…and those americans, bought the truck. probably for over ~65k USD after the Lease and a comically sized 30 year car loan interest rate.
my car is a 1.4 Four Cylinder that has 7 gears? idk what hyaundai is doing giving smol car lambo gears but, i have no issues keeping up with traffic from rural, to highway, to road. And there are aftermarket roof racks should i need to “carry something big in my boot”
I just drive a subcompact hatchback and it’s perfect. Yeah I can’t haul a bunch of crap with several people in the car, but that’s a rare situation to even want. I can fit a fair bit in my trunk when I need to and 5 people when I need to. All with crazy high mpg for a non hybrid, an insane turn radius, and the ability to fit into tiny parking spaces.
And as someone reasonably tall, I fit fine. My wife was hesitant to get such a small car with such a tall wife, but I know a guy in the upper 6’ range who was totally comfortable driving a subcompact for years and loved the thing.
I’d prefer a bikable area with comprehensive public transit, but since I need a car I try to use as efficient as I can.
I’m seeing more and more American import trucks downtown. Seen one with a bunch of American-political stickers on it, including a confederate flag. It’s baffling how successfully America exports its culture to places where it isn’t welcome.
I don’t like the fact that bad history and terrible political views are considered American culture, but I guess I can’t exactly blame anyone for seeing it that way.
The Kremlin supports the political extremes on both sides in the US in order to cause division and dysfunction. They mostly do it on social media, which is where a lot of people get their info about the US.
The Kremlin wish they had that kind of influence. The political divide in America is entirely a home-grown issue. As long as you folk are fighting red vs blue, you’re not talking about the real issues.
Titans XDs are weird. They sit between 1/2 ton 3/4 ton. You’d get it if you need to tow a medium sized power boat, RV, or heavy/multiple cars but don’t want to upgrade to a true 3/4 ton.
To play devils advocate for some trucks, in some situations they really are needed. I happen to live in an area with lots of dirt roads, and in the spring we have “mud season” where the roads just turn to soup. I have had it where the ruts are so deep (1-2 feet) that the only thing that could make it is a stupidly large truck.
That being said, the vast majority of people don’t live on or near dirt roads and never have a need for a truck this big.
Wish the better car manufacturers put any effort into the small truck market, but apparently there just isn't enough demand for compact trucks to make non-cheapo versions.
Yes, but you also have people like my dad, father-in-law, and some of my neighbors who would be perfectly fine without the trucks and large SUVs they have and renting a truck once a year for the time they do need the truck.
It’s not just the big box stores that rent trucks, the small town hardware store next to us rents trucks and does free delivery within 3 days of an order and in a 10 mile radius of the store.
So then you get down to towing which could also potentially be solved by renting depending how often or what you’re towing. If you’re towing something that can’t be done by car and doing it often then it probably makes sense to have a large vehicle to do that. Otherwise sensible sized vehicle with towing capacity to tow the thing you need. Our little hatchback with a hitch can tow 2000 lbs.
During the pandemic my wife and I went down to one car and she thought it was going to be a nightmare. Three years in and we are just fine and we have saved a ton of money in gas, insurance, and maintenance costs. Once or twice a year we think it would be nice to have a second car for a specific instance, but not enough to deal with the headache of the additional costs of additional car again.
My point with that last paragraph is that collectively, we have become so ingrained into thinking that it has to be the way it is, that many people are afraid to even try something different. Even when it’s going to be greatly beneficial to them over time.
I never said there weren’t people wasting resources who purchase them. There are plenty of people who use them for the correct reasons. All of you are here yelling me how they can all just rent a truck each weekend but that’s just not a sane use case.
Some large vehicles are necessary but not generally for personal use. The amount of time most people actually spend using the largeness of their vehicle is greatly outweighed by the time not using the largeness. Just rent a large vehicle when you need one, it’s cheaper in many ways.
I’m not renting a vehicle every other weekend, it’s a pain in the ass. I’m not concerned about cost. There are plenty of people who use their trucks. There are plenty of personal use cases.
I tow ~7.5 times a year, and use the bed ~50 times a year.
I’m replacing my truck with a berliner soon. It can tow 2,000kg with is probably 49)59 of my bed usages. I’ll rent a truck the 7-8 times a year I tow plus any time the utility trailer is insufficient.
People do complete these tasks, but massively underestimate the number of times they complete them. I log all vehicle use, so I’ve got rel data to use instead of feelings. The trigger for replacing my truck is the need to fit a car seat, but once I did the math, the berliner will cost me less per year than my current vehicle even with adding some financing, and and order of magnitude less than going for a larger truck.
Only like 25% of pickup drivers actually tow more than once a year, and only slightly more actually use the bed.
Most of those people would be better off if they could just rent a truck a few times a year if they actually need to. Fairly few people who tow infrequently need a truck on short notice to e.g. tow an injured horse to the vet. And most of the rest would be better off with a smaller truck like they used to make.
People who actually use their trucks to the fullest exist, but are a fairly small minority. People wouldn’t really care about trucks if only people who really need them had them, and if there were a wider variety of things like kei trucks for light farm work.
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