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TIL that the Ford F-150 is the most popular car in the United States
(usa.streetsblog.org)
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this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2026
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I don’t agree they failed - there are plenty 4 cylinder and hybrid cars available.
The thing is- people want trucks, and either they can afford them, or dealers and banks gaslight them to believe they can afford them. So that’s what people buy. I always find it funny when people explain the American auto market’s characteristics by shitting on how stupid American auto industry can’t even make cars. That is irrelevant, a bunch of people drive japanese or european cars if that’s what they want, it’s not like there aren’t imports available. People buy big ass trucks (including Toyota btw) because that’s what they want to drive. It’s that simple.
Manufacturers make what people want, for the most part.
Not quite. There has been a systemic push to grow the size of US vehicles. Why can you not find ANY small trucks? It's NOT because every American that wants a truck wants a big one.
This isn't a conspiracy in the loonie sense. It's completely true, though it was a conspiracy to manipulate the market, which succeeded. It started with the Chicken Tax.
Poorly executed vehicle efficiency requirements based on vehicle footprint ended up as a pressure for larger vehicles as well, which led to the rise in SUVs and oversized puckups.
I think you misunderstood what a light truck is . All pickups are in this category. A tariff on imports is hardly forcing American manufacturers and consumers to prefer bigger trucks and cars. They could just make them smaller if the smaller versions sold better.
The purpose of the tariff is:
Look further into it. It's extremely true that it was deliberate market manipulation. It started with the Chicken Tax. That was far, far from the only contributing factor.
Or manufacture desire, let's not forget
I don’t understand how you think marketing explains consumer choice for trucks over cars. There’s no central advertising committee that bans the advertising of cars. There are in fact ads for cars and suvs as well. There is no concentrated marketing campaign against cars.
This is stricktly anecdotal but in my market it is clearly visible how car advertisement is heavily shifted towards SUVs. On television, magazines, etc. There is more publicity put towards SUVs.
There isn't a central committee for advertising but it is easy to manufacture desire subtly. If a brand is well know for small hatchbacks but is aware the SUV segment is more popular or returns more profit, the advertisement can be engineered towards that particular segment in detriment of another.
Ok mr goal post mover. Is the big conspiracy to sell pickup trucks or to sell suvs? Or they haven’t decided yet?
That’s reaction to demand (my point) not manufacturing desire.
I was concise.
There is something I gladly grant to americans and is that they know how to sell anything. If european brands started to create desire for SUVs even by moving away from their signature vehicles, americans can do it as well, if not better, for those monstrosities on wheels.
Hence, my quip.