I dunno, “the market is going SUV and not looking back” makes me think they are once again being short-sighted. If nothing else, it means we won’t be getting much in the way of innovation from the U. S. makers.

I suspect this time its more of a "Young people aren't buying cars, so extract more money out of the older folks for a bit until we hit the wall."

Ridesharing has taken a big toll on all the car manufacturers.

They tend to buy SUVs.

One trick is that you can make a big, powerful vehicle that's much lighter and more fuel efficient than you could in the past: http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/aluminum-and-ford-f-150

They don't believe so. The article discusses this -- "Today’s (SUVs and Crossovers) get mileage close to the equivalent cars."

“The fuel economy trade-off is not nearly as much of a trade-off as it used to be,” Raj Nair, head of Ford’s North American operations, said. (snip) Even if gas prices soar (snip) consumers are more likely now to switch to a smaller, more fuel efficient SUV, than abandon their beloved bigger rigs, Schuster said.

Now add in the fact that many don't want to buy SUVs (my grandmother can't get into a SUV) and this is yet another silly short term play that will hurt them in the long run when fuel prices increase. My 2016 gasoline VW Golf wagon gets almost 40mpg highway - show me a SUV that can do that.

But hey, I can always continue to buy European cars, and I will. As much as I would love Detroit to succeed, they just can't see more than 2 years in the future.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us

Is there anything this administration won’t ruin for future generations?

It seems like car safety standards, which aren't a bad thing, have just led to an uninspiring and very similar collection of sedans here. Would be refreshing to see a 4-door car that is interesting without being a muscle car or a sports car.

Don't forget about aerodynamics.