> Honda Civic is $24,000. Ford F-150 is $36,000. These are representative prices for popular budget choices. And that baseline F-150 isn't a behemoth. It's 209" long and 76" tall. That's just 10" longer and taller than, say, Tesla Model X.

Disingenuous as heck. I've literally never seen a modern non-commercial regular cab, standard bed F-150. Far more likely the people in question are driving massive SuperCrew cabs. And those SuperCrews start at $43,000 which means more like $50,000 for a realistic spec.

    Regular Cab/6.5-Foot Bed: Length – 209.1 inches / Wheelbase – 122.8 inches
    Regular Cab/8.0-Foot Bed: Length – 227.7 inches / Wheelbase – 141.5 inches
    SuperCab/6.5-Foot Bed: Length – 231.7 inches / Wheelbase – 145.4 inches
    SuperCab/8.0-Foot Bed: Length – 250.3 inches / Wheelbase – 164.1 inches
    SuperCrew/5.5-Foot Bed: Length – 231.7 inches / Wheelbase – 145.4 inches
    SuperCrew/6.5-Foot Bed: Length – 243.5 inches / Wheelbase – 157.2 inches

> And the average pickup is probably shrinking right now, not growing - for example, there are fewer and fewer models with 8" beds, and 5.5" is the new standard (instead of 6").

Nope, as you can see above bed may be shrinking, cab growing and growing.