this post was submitted on 12 Oct 2025
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The state is actually a big part of the problem in this case. Small gas trucks are effectively illegal.
Automakers were fucking around with vehicle classifications in the 2000s to get around CAFE regulations. Things like the PT Cruiser were being classified as trucks. So starting in 2012, CAFE regulations were changed so that fuel economy standards were based on vehicle footprint. But it had a huge unintended consequence.
Suddenly a Toyota Corolla had less-strict fuel economy standards than small commercial vehicles like the Dakota, S-10, and Ranger. Notice how all 3 models were discontinued by 2012? And now that the Ranger is "back" its footprint is larger than some old F-150s?
As the CAFE standards get stricter over time, manufacturers have learned it's easier to just make the car bigger than to meet the fuel economy standards. They've made the marketing about penisnsize and shit, but it's really more about meeting regulations.
A more recent casualty was small cargo vans. The Transit Connect, ProMaster City, and NV200 were all discontinued by 2022 because small cargo vans can't meet CAFE. This is also why New York had to cancel its new Taxi fleet that was based on the NV200.