It’s not just a consumer choice; it’s a policy choice.
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It’s no secret that big cars dominate American roads. But even so, some of the stats are staggering: Last year, 80 percent of all new cars sold in the US were SUVs and trucks. That’s compared to just 52 percent in 2011. Meanwhile, many automakers are phasing out passenger cars as consumer demand for them has disappeared.
Not all of this is a result of consumer choice, though. A huge factor in why SUVs and trucks are so popular in the US is hidden in a 50-year-old policy decision. In this video we cover the history of the SUV, and how its origin story and popularity is rooted in US fuel economy standards.
The Washington Post data visualizations are from this story:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/04/07/trucks-outnumber-cars/
For more of Bob Sorokanich’s work on how regulation changed car design:
https://jalopnik.com/every-car-looks-like-this-thanks-to-a-gigantic-regulato-1849837803
I interviewed economist Mark Jacobsen, who studies fuel efficiency and vehicle safety:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zNR13plJlg
For a history of fuel economy for both light trucks and cars:
https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/fact-sheets/2011/04/20/driving-to-545-mpg-the-history-of-fuel-economy
This article explains how the footprint model made cars bigger:
https://www.thedrive.com/news/small-cars-are-getting-huge-are-fuel-economy-regulations-to-blame
Here is the study on pedestrian fatalities and big cars:
https://sci-hub.se/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212012221000241?via%3Dihub
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