Sounds like you're looking for a "work truck".
A lot of these $100K monstrosities only haul the owner's ego. They're too afraid to haul anything else in it --- it might get scratched.
But from the manufacturer's perspective --- why build a cheap truck if people will buy the monstrosity? There is a lot more profit to be made from it.
It used to be you could get something like a Chevy S10. It wasn't really a work truck, but a small truck for running errands without paying $100 at the pump. They don't seem to make any small trucks like that anymore. Even the supposedly Spartan work trucks are goliaths in terms of size and cost.
Why "everyone has to have one"?
I dare say that "everyone" really don't know --- but they still want one.
In other words, "everyone" has been brainwashed by marketing and peer pressure and convinced to ignore their own reality and buy something they don't really need and can't really afford.
And leading them like cattle to slaughter, the auto industry has been laughing all the way to the bank.
But reality is persistent and refuses to be ignored for too long.
Granted, their grandfather or great-grandfather was probably a farmer or blue collar or lived in a rural area that was off-road, so it may have made sense. However, most of my neighbors are all white collar, but still drive trucks because that's just what's done. It's absolutely ridiculous.
What a perfect example of why it’s called “toxic” - because it forces men today to make decisions that aren’t otherwise optimal to protect their perceived masculinity in the face of their peers and elders.
Maybe allow them agency and accept the possibility they want one?
The whole "I know a person's motivations better than they do" thing has gotten a bit out of hand.
This was phrasing I was responding to, why are you suggesting I was speaking more broadly?
Toxic masculinity may be a thing, but I see that brought up for what seems like everything now.
Are you sure you’re not the one overloading a term?
Ford ranger is Ford Maverick today
Both are under 30k, why do you think they aren’t selling and the ford f150 is? Gas mileage?
At least over here, the Maverick IS selling so well they can't keep them in stock, because... people can't afford an $80k-$120k truck.
Are ford et al ignoring demand for smaller trucks as you are suggesting, or does the data show a demand for ever larger trucks up until interest rates started dropping?
What’s the time it takes to spin up extra production of different product lines of trucks do you think?
This link seems to suggest the ford maverick is actually smaller than the ford ranger: https://www.autoblog.com/2021/06/08/ford-maverick-size-compa... perhaps this is a reaction to more recent demand for smaller trucks and trucks in foreign markets which generally prefer smaller vehicles
Time to check your rhetoric. Ford can't build the Maverick fast enough.
https://www.thedrive.com/news/ford-maverick-sales-jump-83-4-...
Seriously - a simple, inexpensive yet utilitarian Toyota?? Yes please.
But of course, they won't sell that in North America.