The real reason small trucks are dead in america is the bizarre way the CAFE standards are written. In the 2008 update the fuel economy target is based on the

The real reason small trucks are dead in america is the bizarre way the CAFE standards are written. In the 2008 update the fuel economy target is based on the vehicle 'footprint', so bigger trucks have lower targets. This led to a bloating of all trucks. It also killed off small trucks as the cost of compliance was just too high.