Americans and their Big Cars

Americans tend to drive large vehicles. We like our cars to be roomy, powerful, and safe like a tank. There's also something to be said for having a car that you can load up with furniture or building supplies when you need to. And of course, there's the idea of conspicuous consumption, because a gas guzzler indicates you can afford a lot of gasoline, and a bigger truck looks both expensive and manly. But it's not just pickup trucks and luxury cars that are taking over America's streets. The rise of the SUV over the last few decades means that economy cars are dwarfed by big cars even at the grocery store or the school pickup line.

But the trend toward trucks and SUVs was not all due to consumers. Vox looked into the history of SUVs and found that a combination of government regulations and auto manufacturers moves in response led to the development of the SUV and a massive surge in sales of larger vehicles. Once the market was established, SUVs gave way to crossovers. And since fuel efficiency has risen across the spectrum, and US gas prices are lower than in most of the rest of the world, these big vehicles may be here to stay. (via Digg)