SUVs are categorized as light trucks, and are thus exempted from efficiency regulations (big cars are allowed to pollute more), and they're taxed less when the lease is written off as a business expense because of a holdover law that was supposed to only apply to farm equipment (Hummer Loophole).
They're also higher profit margin because manufacturers charge a premium to be higher up, and 3row SUVs became popular as a rejection of Soccer mom minivans even though those use the space they take up a lot better and can actually seat adults in the back.
What a marketing coup this was, associating a certain type of Big Car with females and making them icky but another slightly worse in all respects type of Big Car with manliness.
The weird thing is it's a marketing thing that's been around so long that The Simpsons made fun of it with the Canyonero
I'd have thought it'd go full circle by now and sporty stationwagons would come into style and you'd be made fun of for driving a soccer mom SUV, I think the tax thing holds those back from getting popular. But instead they now have performance trims of SUVs which doesn't make any sense because high centre of gravity.
SUVs are categorized as light trucks, and are thus exempted from efficiency regulations (big cars are allowed to pollute more), and they're taxed less when the lease is written off as a business expense because of a holdover law that was supposed to only apply to farm equipment (Hummer Loophole).
They're also higher profit margin because manufacturers charge a premium to be higher up, and 3row SUVs became popular as a rejection of Soccer mom minivans even though those use the space they take up a lot better and can actually seat adults in the back.
What a marketing coup this was, associating a certain type of Big Car with females and making them icky but another slightly worse in all respects type of Big Car with manliness.
The weird thing is it's a marketing thing that's been around so long that The Simpsons made fun of it with the Canyonero
I'd have thought it'd go full circle by now and sporty stationwagons would come into style and you'd be made fun of for driving a soccer mom SUV, I think the tax thing holds those back from getting popular. But instead they now have performance trims of SUVs which doesn't make any sense because high centre of gravity.
Fun fact: lots of minivans just used the undercarriage + more of the same manufacturer's trucks and added the minivan top.