Hacker News Reader

Very frustrating that trucks have morphed into tank-like SUVs with small beds tacked on back. Expensive and has every fancy feature one could want ... except the thing that makes it a pick-up truck

View on HN

A lot of that is US tax code making it cheaper if the car (truck) is big enough.

This doesn't pass the smell test to me. I would like to buy a single-cab (or small second row) pick-up truck with a modest carrying capacity and a large bed. The reason the market basically gave up on making these 10-15 years ago is ... tax code? A reference would be helpful for me here.

The fuel economy standards (CAFE) take the footprint (size) of the vehicle in count. Once the vehicle is big enough (wide in this case) it effectively falls completely outside the rules saving the manufacturer a lot of money in fees/taxes.

For imports “light trucks” get a nice extra 25% tariff (been around since 1963)

If you own a business and actually use it for work then you a bigger tax brake if it weighs over 6000 pounds.

Also if the vehicle is over 10000 pounds you can just ignore a bunch of crash safety regulations (pedestrian ones just stop applying)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com