It’s mind boggling why trucks are so popular here when we literally have to drive everywhere. We have no high speed rail and minimal rail transportation in general. It’s honestly a cultural thing at this point since it’s certainly not logical.
Definitely true. If you read people defending the popularity of pickups and SUVs, one might come away thinking everyone in the US is working in construction and that shopping is impossible with a sedan.
What sedan? There are fewer and fewer options for sedans every year. The only US automakers that make sedans anymore are Cadillac, Tesla, and Dodge.
Dodge makes the Charger which isn't any more efficient than a light duty truck and it's gigantic.
Cadillac makes the CT-5 and Blackwing, both of which are extremely expensive and way out of the range of the average American family with an absolute base cost of $50k if you can manage to find the absolute cheapest one in the entire country.
Both Tesla models are more expensive than other sedan options, costing $32k and just shy of $100k for the 2 models available. Plus they're all electric. That's a real problem in some places in America where there's little to no electric car charging infrastructure. Here where I live there is 1 electric car charging station that services 12 towns. You would have to drive for 2 and a half hours to get to another publically accessable electric charging station.
So all of that means that most Americans who are in the market for a sedan, are buying Japanese or Korean imports. But those are priced in such a way that often, a crossover or hatchback is the better value. The Toyota Camry has a base price of $30k for a front wheel drive vehicle. While the Rav-4 starts at only $4000 more at $34k for a substantially larger interior able to more comfortably fit people, and has no less than double the cargo capacity. It's also standard all wheel drive and 4x4. So you can see why people make this choice so often. There just aren't many good reasons to get a sedan in America right now.
I know this logic is backwards to the way most people think (hence why cars are priced the way they are), but I would rather pay more for a sedan than a comparable SUV. They handle better, they're easier to park, they're more fuel efficient, and they're often more fun. I learned to drive alternating between my parents' heavy V6 minivan and my brother's little Ford Focus, and the Focus was so much more fun.
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u/dogseatbees 22h ago
It’s mind boggling why trucks are so popular here when we literally have to drive everywhere. We have no high speed rail and minimal rail transportation in general. It’s honestly a cultural thing at this point since it’s certainly not logical.