I disagree with you on this. Manufacturers are also driven by what makes them the most money. Affordable compact cars don't make much profit, but big, expensive, cheaply engineered trucks make them a ton of money. Body-on-frame construction, cheap suspensions and drivetrains, and ancient engine designs lower their costs to develop a lot, and they just throw some leather and a touch screen in it and can mark it up 20% or more because now it's a "luxury" truck.

Then there's the advertisements which are designed to influence consumer demand. And the ads for big trucks are targeted squarely at people who want to feel powerful. They put them on every ten minutes during sports programs to prime their market into thinking this is a reasonable vehicle for them to own. When they buy it and realize it's actually not that fast, not that great as a commuter, and costs them a ton in gas they get angry and then drive like dickweeds.

[–] PrinceWith999Enemies@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

I fully agree with you on your response. My attempt at being brief (as a perusal of my post history will show I have a really hard time with), I sacrificed accuracy for brevity.

And just in case you’re hitting your weekend and bored, I am also able to have a full scale discussion on the semiotics of pick up trucks and the surrounding culture in general.