Male insecurity is part of it, but public policy is a bigger part: specifically, the “chicken tax” and CAFE loopholes. Fix those, so that manufacturers are actually allowed and incentivized to make small trucks that people want (and disincentivized against making gigantic ones their “flagship” models), and the problem would greatly diminish.
This would require legislators to act against their own financial interests.
Loosen passenger safety regulations while they’re at it. It’s become insane. Cars are safe enough for occupants, and have been for two decades at least.
Meanwhile, maybe we can make pedestrian safety more of a priority.
If argue another thing that is fighting against Kai trucks is the fact that I’m told that there is a dealership feedback loop. For example the reason why cars are rather black and white now is because dealerships viewed that those colors sold better. Same thing with auto transmissions. However we are now finding those cars are selling better is because there are more of them, and there are more of them because they sell better. I suspect the same thing is happening with big trucks. Bigger luxury trucks are selling better than small trucks because there are more big luxury trucks, and there are more big luxury trucks because they sell better. This feedback loop exists because dealerships force consumers to select from what they have when you want to buy a new car. When you look at the second hand market you’ll find colorful manual small trucks sell better than colorless automatic luxury trucks.
Could global warming also be a factor in white cars becoming more popular? They don’t get nearly as hot in the summer which is huge
Possibly tho I personally doubt it. My local area is pretty conservative so not a lot of people care about climate change and I don’t have a sizable population of climate consurned people to know in person. But from what I’ve observed online people who do care about climate change don’t talk about car color at all. Instead they are more concerned about cars being electric. On top of all that cars today are pretty disposable and gas has been in the process of getting phased out. So it’s entirely possible that by the time car color becomes a concern most folks probably would have gone through 20 different cars by then. That’s all without mentioning how AC has become a standard feature on even low end econo boxes. But hey not everyone thinks rationally just look at the entire premise of mith busters.
I actually just traded out of my F-150 for an all-electric crossover. Lemmy has informed me that this was a terrible move for the environment.
I rented a Ford F-150 from U-haul. It was $19 plus insurance and gas. That was the smallest truck they offered. I think in total, I paid about $90 after everything was done and hauled a bunch of stuff. Even if I had to do that 4 times a year, which I don’t, it’s still cheaper than buying a whole truck.
I was amazed recently how hard it was to find a proper small truck. Just wanted something to carry my bicycle so I could try some different trails that are farther from my house.
All the new trucks are huge and the old small trucks are expensive. Ended up with a “mid-sized” Nissan and it’s bigger than the F-150s all my friends had growing up. I still want an old Ford Ranger or something but they’re just too damn expensive now.
What’s wrong with these?
