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People want vehicles the size of tanks. Auto companies are spending billions of dollars to get people to buy their respective tank-sized vehicles, not to turn p

People want vehicles the size of tanks. Auto companies are spending billions of dollars to get people to buy their respective tank-sized vehicles, not to turn people onto the segment in general.

mc32 1y ago
People with families have been fooling around with larger vehicles for some time: station wagons -> minivans -> SUVs -> CUVs. It's not new.
- riffraff 1y ago
  Most of the time people drive SUVs alone. I go for walks in the morning and there's a road bottleneck and it's hilarious and sad to see the cars queueing up on both sides, huge ones, with a single person in them, every morning. I do own a station wagon, and it's shorter than most SUVs, and I use it for long trips, but let's be realistic, that's not what most drives are.
  - potato3732842 1y ago
    >Most of the time people drive SUVs alone. Most of the time people drive sedans alone. If people bought based purely on passenger need 99% of vehicles on the road should be 2-seat coupes, pickups and vans.
    - riffraff 1y ago
      I agree, I was just answering to the "people with families drive large cars" in general, and wrote SUV accidentally.
PaulHoule 1y ago
I've heard people say "people want vehicles the size of tanks" in discussions like this but I've never heard "I want a vehicle the size of a tank" although that person exists. It seems like a different world but before the pandemic if you wanted to buy a compact car you would go to the dealer and find out they don't have any new ones, you'll have to settle for used, they say factory washed out in a flood. Well they have 100 SUVs made in the same factory lined up that nobody wants to buy that are $7000 off.
- vostok 1y ago
  As someone who lives in a city, I'm not sure what I'd do with a car that is smaller than a tank. If it's a small car then it's probably for local trips and super inconvenient to park / re-park / etc. I want a big car to comfortably fit my family, our outdoor toys, and maybe even tow something. Even if I lived outside a city, what do I gain by driving a smaller car? Going from 35 to 55 mpg? Parking is plentiful and equally convenient for big cars these days.
  - hnthroay22312 1y ago
    most people want all those things but reality they tow something maybe once a year, that's marketing working.
    - Scoundreller 1y ago
      Pareto principle is strong when it comes to towing.
  - kanbara 1y ago
    meanwhile the entire world from japan to the uk to brazil to south africa are fine to go grocery shopping and take their family out in their normal sized car. in the city. cities are better with fewer cars and better public transit. and you dont need a tank. i didnt know your viewpoint even existed.
- murderfs 1y ago
  From a survey of Canadians in 2022 [1]: "We find that SUV drivers view their vehicles as functionally superior to smaller cars in terms of safety, space for lifestyle, handling, and fun. Symbolically, SUVs are seen as a “status symbol” that can communicate a number of images, such as being “successful”. SUV drivers are more likely to see these vehicles as common and “approved” in their social networks, and tend to downplay any negative societal impacts such as increased GHG emissions. Across respondents intending to buy an SUV, willingness-to-downsize to a smaller vehicle was highest under financial incentives (for buying or using a car) or disincentives (for buying or using an SUV)." I personally don't understand how you could consider an SUV better for handling or fun, but denying people's views doesn't make them not hold them. 1: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214629622002791 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S22146...
kelnos 1y ago
Do they actually want that, or have people been influenced by incessant marketing? Car manufacturers have strong tax reasons to prefer building SUVs over sedans, and their marketing reflects that.
user____name 1y ago
I think people want tanks because all their neighbours are driving tanks.

People want vehicles the size of tanks. Auto companies are spending billions of dollars to get people to buy their respective tank-sized vehicles, not to turn people onto the segment in general.

mc32 1y ago

People with families have been fooling around with larger vehicles for some time: station wagons -> minivans -> SUVs -> CUVs. It's not new.

riffraff 1y ago
Most of the time people drive SUVs alone. I go for walks in the morning and there's a road bottleneck and it's hilarious and sad to see the cars queueing up on both sides, huge ones, with a single person in them, every morning. I do own a station wagon, and it's shorter than most SUVs, and I use it for long trips, but let's be realistic, that's not what most drives are.
- potato3732842 1y ago
  >Most of the time people drive SUVs alone. Most of the time people drive sedans alone. If people bought based purely on passenger need 99% of vehicles on the road should be 2-seat coupes, pickups and vans.
  - riffraff 1y ago
    I agree, I was just answering to the "people with families drive large cars" in general, and wrote SUV accidentally.

PaulHoule 1y ago

I've heard people say "people want vehicles the size of tanks" in discussions like this but I've never heard "I want a vehicle the size of a tank" although that person exists. It seems like a different world but before the pandemic if you wanted to buy a compact car you would go to the dealer and find out they don't have any new ones, you'll have to settle for used, they say factory washed out in a flood. Well they have 100 SUVs made in the same factory lined up that nobody wants to buy that are $7000 off.

vostok 1y ago
As someone who lives in a city, I'm not sure what I'd do with a car that is smaller than a tank. If it's a small car then it's probably for local trips and super inconvenient to park / re-park / etc. I want a big car to comfortably fit my family, our outdoor toys, and maybe even tow something. Even if I lived outside a city, what do I gain by driving a smaller car? Going from 35 to 55 mpg? Parking is plentiful and equally convenient for big cars these days.
- hnthroay22312 1y ago
  most people want all those things but reality they tow something maybe once a year, that's marketing working.
  - Scoundreller 1y ago
    Pareto principle is strong when it comes to towing.
- kanbara 1y ago
  meanwhile the entire world from japan to the uk to brazil to south africa are fine to go grocery shopping and take their family out in their normal sized car. in the city. cities are better with fewer cars and better public transit. and you dont need a tank. i didnt know your viewpoint even existed.
murderfs 1y ago
From a survey of Canadians in 2022 [1]: "We find that SUV drivers view their vehicles as functionally superior to smaller cars in terms of safety, space for lifestyle, handling, and fun. Symbolically, SUVs are seen as a “status symbol” that can communicate a number of images, such as being “successful”. SUV drivers are more likely to see these vehicles as common and “approved” in their social networks, and tend to downplay any negative societal impacts such as increased GHG emissions. Across respondents intending to buy an SUV, willingness-to-downsize to a smaller vehicle was highest under financial incentives (for buying or using a car) or disincentives (for buying or using an SUV)." I personally don't understand how you could consider an SUV better for handling or fun, but denying people's views doesn't make them not hold them. 1: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214629622002791 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S22146...

kelnos 1y ago

Do they actually want that, or have people been influenced by incessant marketing? Car manufacturers have strong tax reasons to prefer building SUVs over sedans, and their marketing reflects that.

user____name 1y ago

I think people want tanks because all their neighbours are driving tanks.