• @Not_mikey @Wxfisch I know unfortunately many people who own mid-sized SUVs. No one I choose to associate with has one a status symbol. They’re motivated by lack of smaller options (particularly for parents who need to fit multiple car seats in a vehicle) and fear of them or their kids being injured by other drivers in comically oversized vehicles.

    • @Not_mikey @Wxfisch Yes, the average consumer is quite susceptible to marketing and follows trends in everything from clothes to food & drink to toothbrushes. Many will look around at their peers and try to “keep up with the Joneses”. Rather than evidence that car companies are simply responding to consumer demand, that shows they’re creating the demand that most benefits their bottom line and looser regulation on vehicles classified as light trucks is a big part of why they market what they do.