4 ms·

I can't believe that pickups are the three most sold models in the US. That's really insane. https://www.businessinsider.com/best-selling-cars-and-trucks-in-ame

by make3 8y ago

I can't believe that pickups are the three most sold models in the US. That's really insane. https://www.businessinsider.com/best-selling-cars-and-trucks-in-america-in-2018-2018-8#2-chevrolet-silverado-291074-107-19 https://www.businessinsider.com/best-selling-cars-and-trucks...

afarrell 8y ago
Part of it is identity. Even now, living in central London, I really do miss my dad's Ford Ranger which we used to use for moving construction materials and scrap metal up in Maine.
StillBored 8y ago
I started driving a truck 15 years ago after a number of sports cars/sedans/etc. I will never go back. Its not insane when you consider any number of factors, starting with the fact that Americans are BIG. As a large person myself (although not overweight), I'm here to tell you that what a 120 pound 5'6" person finds comfortable frequently is painful for me. Second, I spend upwards of 2+ hours a day sitting my my car, spending a couple grand extra a year for a seat that is 6" wider, doesn't require me to have the flexibility of a 15 year old doing a deep knee bend every-time I get in/out of my car, and allows me to sit upright rather than tilting the seat back into the second row is well worth it. Third, while there are some SUV's and maybe minivans that qualify on the comfort front, they either tend to be less efficient, cost more, or have social stigma associated with them. Sure if I had two vehicles, I might be able to get away with driving the truck on the weekend or when I actually need it, but the convenience of being able to throw a bike, kayak, lawn mower, TV, piece of plywood/drywall/2x4/etc in the back when I need to is worth it. Plus, I tow something maybe once a year, but again, if you only have 1 vehicle.. The two vehicle argument might make more sense, if there was space and insurance/taxes/etc were per person rather than per vehicle. Finally, part of the problem is the American car market. Sedan seems to frequently translate to econobox. In Europe a basic car is smaller, but somehow frequently seems to have far more leg and headroom than a similar American car. This space problem seems to extend from the econoboxes in the US to the luxury car market as well. Apparently in the US, taking an econobox, putting leather and a bigger engine in while leaving the chassis/etc the same (or streamlining it and making it even smaller as honda/acura seems to do) is common. The result is that if your bigger than average, you likely don't fit in something that isn't a SUV/Truck.
- mikekchar 8y ago
  Interestingly (perhaps?) we got a Leaf a few months ago and the biggest thing that surprised me is that it is massive inside. I guess because the battery is stored under the floor. Although I have relatively short arms for someone my height (5' 10"), I still think it's instructive to say that when I'm sitting in the passenger seat, I can't touch the dash without leaning forward. And, again, I have slightly shorter legs, but with the seat all the way forward, I can still stretch out my legs without bending them and not touch the front. I have a long body (if it weren't for my short legs, I would be well over 6') and I can wear a straw hat in the car and still have a couple of inches of clearance. Not so sure about width... I'm probably "average sized" for a North American (fat for a Japanese person -- my wife likes to remind me...) and the width is perfectly comfortable. My supposition is that electric vehicles are just a lot more efficient on space. The leaf isn't a huge car externally (although it's not exactly small either), but it's the biggest interior I've ridden in for a long time (probably not since my Grandfather's Buick). As for the 2 car issue, I actually don't use a car much at all. The only reason we have one is because my wife insists that she needs it. Getting things delivered is both more convenient and cheaper from my perspective. The trade off is that I need to plan ahead a day or so, but I don't actually have to lift big heavy stuff. If I need to haul something bigger, I just rent the appropriate vehicle. I usually end up renting once or twice a year. It saves massive amounts of money. It is a lifestyle change, but it's got upsides as well as downsides.
  - madengr 8y ago
    Ditto on the Leaf. I’m 6’5” and still have 2” headroom, and most importantly, clear line of sight (not looking into visor). I can also put the seat all the way back and still fit someone behind me. It has much more passenger room than my Toyota truck. Very happy with it.
  - zaroth 8y ago
    Do you own a house? Do you do work on it yourself? Do you maintain a lawn? How about sporting activities? Own a boat? A snowmobile? A few kayaks maybe? Dirt bike? I assume you have a trash pickup at your place. You know a lot of towns don’t, and you have to haul your own trash to the town dump? Perhaps there are a million reasons why it’s great in your life to not own or even feel like you need a car. Perhaps there are a million other reasons people want and need a truck to drive. Personally, once I started maintaining a house and an acre of land, the way I wanted to maintain it, it gets very difficult having to wait hours for someone to return with the Home Depot truck because I need to get xyz thing home. I mooch off my brother a lot to move heavier equipment around, because he has a truck and a trailer, but there are a lot of projects I can’t get done for lack of a proper work vehicle. I order a lot of stuff off Amazon. But every time I’ve tried ordering groceries I’ve regretted it. Mostly because they insist on delivering from a store 13 miles away when there’s a perfectly good Whole Foods 3.5 miles down the road, and it just seems so asinine.
corey_moncure 8y ago
Perhaps it's connected to the observation that one in five USA households have "zero or negative" net worth. Imagine the sacrifices they make for their future, and their children's future, so they can feel big on city roads and haul around nine cubic yards of air. 'You do you', I guess.
tikhonj 8y ago
I believe pickup trucks make up <20% of total car sales, but there are fewer models to choose from compared to sedans or crossovers, so the most popular pickup models get a disproportionate amount of sales.
- spectrum1234 8y ago
  This. Very misleading without this.
protomyth 8y ago
Think fleet vehicles and you will get a lot of those numbers. https://www.fleet.ford.com/ https://www.fleet.ford.com/
toomanybeersies 8y ago
It's the same in New Zealand, where the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux are the two best selling vehicles. There are far more compact cars sold than pickup trucks, it's just that most manufacturers only offer one model of pickup truck, and often offer several similar models of compact cars, hatchbacks, sedans, and SUVs. In NZ, Ford offers 3 different small passenger cars and 4 different SUVs, but only one pickup [1]. Toyota is much the same. [1] https://www.ford.co.nz/all/ https://www.ford.co.nz/all/

by make3 8y ago

afarrell 8y ago

Part of it is identity. Even now, living in central London, I really do miss my dad's Ford Ranger which we used to use for moving construction materials and scrap metal up in Maine.

StillBored 8y ago

I started driving a truck 15 years ago after a number of sports cars/sedans/etc. I will never go back. Its not insane when you consider any number of factors, starting with the fact that Americans are BIG. As a large person myself (although not overweight), I'm here to tell you that what a 120 pound 5'6" person finds comfortable frequently is painful for me. Second, I spend upwards of 2+ hours a day sitting my my car, spending a couple grand extra a year for a seat that is 6" wider, doesn't require me to have the flexibility of a 15 year old doing a deep knee bend every-time I get in/out of my car, and allows me to sit upright rather than tilting the seat back into the second row is well worth it. Third, while there are some SUV's and maybe minivans that qualify on the comfort front, they either tend to be less efficient, cost more, or have social stigma associated with them. Sure if I had two vehicles, I might be able to get away with driving the truck on the weekend or when I actually need it, but the convenience of being able to throw a bike, kayak, lawn mower, TV, piece of plywood/drywall/2x4/etc in the back when I need to is worth it. Plus, I tow something maybe once a year, but again, if you only have 1 vehicle.. The two vehicle argument might make more sense, if there was space and insurance/taxes/etc were per person rather than per vehicle. Finally, part of the problem is the American car market. Sedan seems to frequently translate to econobox. In Europe a basic car is smaller, but somehow frequently seems to have far more leg and headroom than a similar American car. This space problem seems to extend from the econoboxes in the US to the luxury car market as well. Apparently in the US, taking an econobox, putting leather and a bigger engine in while leaving the chassis/etc the same (or streamlining it and making it even smaller as honda/acura seems to do) is common. The result is that if your bigger than average, you likely don't fit in something that isn't a SUV/Truck.

mikekchar 8y ago
Interestingly (perhaps?) we got a Leaf a few months ago and the biggest thing that surprised me is that it is massive inside. I guess because the battery is stored under the floor. Although I have relatively short arms for someone my height (5' 10"), I still think it's instructive to say that when I'm sitting in the passenger seat, I can't touch the dash without leaning forward. And, again, I have slightly shorter legs, but with the seat all the way forward, I can still stretch out my legs without bending them and not touch the front. I have a long body (if it weren't for my short legs, I would be well over 6') and I can wear a straw hat in the car and still have a couple of inches of clearance. Not so sure about width... I'm probably "average sized" for a North American (fat for a Japanese person -- my wife likes to remind me...) and the width is perfectly comfortable. My supposition is that electric vehicles are just a lot more efficient on space. The leaf isn't a huge car externally (although it's not exactly small either), but it's the biggest interior I've ridden in for a long time (probably not since my Grandfather's Buick). As for the 2 car issue, I actually don't use a car much at all. The only reason we have one is because my wife insists that she needs it. Getting things delivered is both more convenient and cheaper from my perspective. The trade off is that I need to plan ahead a day or so, but I don't actually have to lift big heavy stuff. If I need to haul something bigger, I just rent the appropriate vehicle. I usually end up renting once or twice a year. It saves massive amounts of money. It is a lifestyle change, but it's got upsides as well as downsides.
- madengr 8y ago
  Ditto on the Leaf. I’m 6’5” and still have 2” headroom, and most importantly, clear line of sight (not looking into visor). I can also put the seat all the way back and still fit someone behind me. It has much more passenger room than my Toyota truck. Very happy with it.
- zaroth 8y ago
  Do you own a house? Do you do work on it yourself? Do you maintain a lawn? How about sporting activities? Own a boat? A snowmobile? A few kayaks maybe? Dirt bike? I assume you have a trash pickup at your place. You know a lot of towns don’t, and you have to haul your own trash to the town dump? Perhaps there are a million reasons why it’s great in your life to not own or even feel like you need a car. Perhaps there are a million other reasons people want and need a truck to drive. Personally, once I started maintaining a house and an acre of land, the way I wanted to maintain it, it gets very difficult having to wait hours for someone to return with the Home Depot truck because I need to get xyz thing home. I mooch off my brother a lot to move heavier equipment around, because he has a truck and a trailer, but there are a lot of projects I can’t get done for lack of a proper work vehicle. I order a lot of stuff off Amazon. But every time I’ve tried ordering groceries I’ve regretted it. Mostly because they insist on delivering from a store 13 miles away when there’s a perfectly good Whole Foods 3.5 miles down the road, and it just seems so asinine.

corey_moncure 8y ago

Perhaps it's connected to the observation that one in five USA households have "zero or negative" net worth. Imagine the sacrifices they make for their future, and their children's future, so they can feel big on city roads and haul around nine cubic yards of air. 'You do you', I guess.

tikhonj 8y ago

I believe pickup trucks make up <20% of total car sales, but there are fewer models to choose from compared to sedans or crossovers, so the most popular pickup models get a disproportionate amount of sales.

spectrum1234 8y ago
This. Very misleading without this.

protomyth 8y ago

Think fleet vehicles and you will get a lot of those numbers. https://www.fleet.ford.com/ https://www.fleet.ford.com/

toomanybeersies 8y ago

It's the same in New Zealand, where the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux are the two best selling vehicles. There are far more compact cars sold than pickup trucks, it's just that most manufacturers only offer one model of pickup truck, and often offer several similar models of compact cars, hatchbacks, sedans, and SUVs. In NZ, Ford offers 3 different small passenger cars and 4 different SUVs, but only one pickup [1]. Toyota is much the same. [1] https://www.ford.co.nz/all/ https://www.ford.co.nz/all/