Repel the Chicken Tax then and we'll see how auto OEM change their tunes and people start liking small cars again.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/chicken-tax.asp

>Most SUVs are classified as light trucks and are therefore included in the Chicken Tax

Full story: https://www.wired.com/2014/12/subaru-brat/

SUVs are a lot bigger than typical European cars. Since people don't feel safe driving small cars around big cars the presence of SUVs causes an upwards pressure on vehicle size. That's an issue in cities where the roads and parking spaces are built to fit vehicles from 20 years ago, causing a lot of frustration for everyone. Which creates the paradox that SUVs both cause people to dislike them and to buy them, for related reasons.

It's not that simple. There are SUV-like cars in all sizes now, starting with small cars like Suzuki Jimny, and you can find a model within each 5cm band up to 5m+. Where do you draw a line? Each of these could be called a SUV by a typical voter, with increased height and ground clearance, larger wheels, in many cases 4x4. There are also sedans and station wagons with increased height and some offroad protection and styling.

My point is it's very hard nowadays to say what's a SUV. According to the article, French authorities decided purely on weight, which is only semi-related to SUV-ness of a vehicle and might include non-SUV cars, especially with heavy diesel engines, but exclude my petrol Honda CR-V 3rd gen. Why didn't they call it "triple cost for heavier vehicles" instead?

I've noticed this trend, but I feel like it's down to several factors, and I think as full cost gets priced in correctly, it's likely to end.

Obviously these use more fuel than the equivalent smaller, lighter car. Over time that's going to affect both the direct fuel costs, and the other taxes and costs levied for environmental reasons, road use, etc. Credit has been remarkably cheap, particularly in cars, and that's coming to and end. Insurance premiums have been going up in many countries, and these cars generally cost more to insure. On top of all of this, in the US SUVs are more practical because of the support for much larger vehicles (parking, roads, etc), and US media is a trend-setter for much of the world, so these vehicles are considered desirable more than may otherwise be the case.

The numbers you point to are from 2022, I'd be interested to see 2023 numbers as that's where I expect things would really start to turn around.

“People like Coldplay and voted for the Nazis. You can’t trust people Jeremy.”

The popularity of SUVs is driven by a whole variety of factors. Eventually some of those factors will start to weaken. One of the factors is that many of the costs of SUVs are externalised.

Another factor is that car companies market SUVs heavily.

Another factor is that you get often more space in cabin and boot compared to a "regular" car of the same length. I.e. you get more comfort for passengers while still able to fit in the same parking space. It's not just fashion. There are real reasons why families purchase SUVs. SUVs nowadays are not just Range Rovers and BMW X5s, there are myriad smaller vehicles starting from 4m length. Even France's own Renault, Peugeot and Citroen have half of their models in SUV shapes of all sizes.

SUVs are more profitable than "regular" cars. Therefore they are marketed more heavily. Consumer choice is obviously not entirely driven by marketing, but if it didn't have an impact, car companies wouldn't do it.

American automakers are obviously much further down this path, but European automakers don't have to pay for externalities either.

Nope that's just wrong, you often get more space in the regular car. The classic "ugly" family cars like Renault Espace or VW Sharan provide waaaaay more space than the SUVs