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I'm having a hard time understanding why consumers went for SUVs in this interpretation. Did they just really want to pollute more? Do regular cars have too hig

I'm having a hard time understanding why consumers went for SUVs in this interpretation. Did they just really want to pollute more? Do regular cars have too high a gas mileage for their liking? It certainly wasn't that the SUV was able to become the cheaper option! Skirting emissions laws only works as a complete explanation if it can account for consumer behavior. My sense from talking to people who own them is that they chose them because they could function as a truck or as a minivan depending on what they need to do at the time, without having to own both. That's a much less exciting explanation than yours, but it does account for both consumer behavior and manufacturer behavior. Emissions laws may very well have increased manufacturer margins on these vehicles, but they're filling a real need in people's lives.

treyd 2y ago
People bought them because the advertising promoted them. They were advertised them because it let the manufacturers meet a lower emissions standard and pay a lower cost to manufacture the vehicle. It's not a conspiracy, it's not individual choice, it's just economics and marketing.
- lolinder 2y ago
  I'm ready and willing to believe that marketing is part of the story, but I'm far from willing to believe that it's the whole story. This other commenter explains a lot of the benefits that people find from SUVs far better than I could myself: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40699325 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40699325 This isn't a diamond ring situation where someone created demand out of nothing.
stefan_ 2y ago
Why is that so unbelievable? There is a well documented correlation between fuel prices and the type of car consumers buy, while of course the needs stay the same - if anything, todays consumers have less use for a large car than ever. So what are we to conclude? Yes, the majority of US car buyers will literally buy the biggest gas guzzling pollution spewer they can afford. Call it revealed preferences, although it's hardly obscured - hell, a large number of people vote on the premise that gas must be $5 forever.
- lolinder 2y ago
  > Yes, the majority of US car buyers will literally buy the biggest gas guzzling pollution spewer they can afford. This would be a sufficient explanation if and only if SUVs were cheaper than trucks. They're not, so the rising popularity of SUVs cannot be because skirting emissions regulations allowed selling a cheaper gas guzzler. (This is aside from the fact that is referenced by another comment further up [0] that most modern SUVs aren't actually significantly less fuel efficient than traditional vehicles.) [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40698910 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40698910
wincy 2y ago
I just bought a 2024 Toyota Sequoia. It’s a “real SUV” and uses the same engine as the Toyota Tundra. For us, we wanted a vehicle that could tow a Camper Trailer, and one that could hold my daughter’s wheelchair easily, as well as her friends. A minivan would have fulfilled the wheelchair requirement, but it’s my wife’s dream vehicle, and I really want my youngest daughter to get the same camping trip experiences despite having special needs (like water and a sterile environment to wash up and catheter her, so a camper is a necessity if we want to “camp”). Something like the Cybertruck wasn’t even a consideration, because it can haul maybe 90 miles for a camper trailer, based on what I’ve seen in testing.

treyd 2y ago

People bought them because the advertising promoted them. They were advertised them because it let the manufacturers meet a lower emissions standard and pay a lower cost to manufacture the vehicle. It's not a conspiracy, it's not individual choice, it's just economics and marketing.

lolinder 2y ago
I'm ready and willing to believe that marketing is part of the story, but I'm far from willing to believe that it's the whole story. This other commenter explains a lot of the benefits that people find from SUVs far better than I could myself: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40699325 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40699325 This isn't a diamond ring situation where someone created demand out of nothing.

stefan_ 2y ago

Why is that so unbelievable? There is a well documented correlation between fuel prices and the type of car consumers buy, while of course the needs stay the same - if anything, todays consumers have less use for a large car than ever. So what are we to conclude? Yes, the majority of US car buyers will literally buy the biggest gas guzzling pollution spewer they can afford. Call it revealed preferences, although it's hardly obscured - hell, a large number of people vote on the premise that gas must be $5 forever.

lolinder 2y ago
> Yes, the majority of US car buyers will literally buy the biggest gas guzzling pollution spewer they can afford. This would be a sufficient explanation if and only if SUVs were cheaper than trucks. They're not, so the rising popularity of SUVs cannot be because skirting emissions regulations allowed selling a cheaper gas guzzler. (This is aside from the fact that is referenced by another comment further up [0] that most modern SUVs aren't actually significantly less fuel efficient than traditional vehicles.) [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40698910 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40698910

wincy 2y ago

I just bought a 2024 Toyota Sequoia. It’s a “real SUV” and uses the same engine as the Toyota Tundra. For us, we wanted a vehicle that could tow a Camper Trailer, and one that could hold my daughter’s wheelchair easily, as well as her friends. A minivan would have fulfilled the wheelchair requirement, but it’s my wife’s dream vehicle, and I really want my youngest daughter to get the same camping trip experiences despite having special needs (like water and a sterile environment to wash up and catheter her, so a camper is a necessity if we want to “camp”). Something like the Cybertruck wasn’t even a consideration, because it can haul maybe 90 miles for a camper trailer, based on what I’ve seen in testing.