It is both. Car companies started making larger vehicles due to CAFE restrictions, but consumers also started preferring larger vehicles. The data is clear ab

It is both. Car companies started making larger vehicles due to CAFE restrictions, but consumers also started preferring larger vehicles. The data is clear about this, many of the options for small cars that did exist over the past 20 years have been discontinued due to poor sales. I think part of this is: 1. people want to keep up with the joneses 2. as other cars in traffic get larger, some people don't want to want to drive cars that make them feel small on the road by comparison... the "I want to sit up high so I can see better" effect.