HIGHER GAS PRICES, HIGHER CARS?

In the United States, a combination of rent-seeking industrial policy, carving out a "light truck" exemption from the fuel economy standards big enough to drive an Escalade through, with gasoline prices cheaper than they are elsewhere, and with enough political support that even the Jarrett regency had to suspend the beautiful transition and draw down the strategic petroleum reserve in advance of the Congressional elections that owning an Escalade doesn't break the bank, it's no surprise that there would be a lot of Escalades and the like.

What, though, is the explanation for the crowded parking spaces Down Under? "Australians are grumbling about a recent invasion of American-style giant pickup trucks. But even before that, vehicle sizes were increasing."  Enough so that the authorities are re-thinking the parking spaces.

Massive American-style pickup trucks are having a surge of popularity in Australia, to the annoyance of some drivers.

“The Americans are coming for our roads, hogging them up with their obnoxious, grand old trucks,” one news story announced. Another described it as a “tsunami of supersized American pickup-style trucks.” And some have cited reports of these vehicles seemingly getting stuck trying to make it around roundabouts, a rare feature on American roads but extremely common in Australia.

Although the popularity of American-style utes — utility vehicles, aka pickup trucks — is a relatively recent one, Australian vehicles have been steadily getting bigger for the past few decades. SUVs and light commercial vehicles — which includes utes — made up 77 percent of the new vehicles sold in Australia in 2022, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries. A decade ago, the two categories made up less than 50 percent of sales.

It’s become noticeable enough that Standards Australia, the nongovernmental body that sets the nation’s parking space size requirements, wants to increase the length of off-street parking spots by 20 centimeters, or just under eight inches, to “accommodate the trend of larger vehicles on Australian roads.”

The article notes the same sort of bigger is safer positional arms race influencing sport-ute purchases in Australia that is present Stateside.

They're also becoming more common in the UK.

In the US there were various factors that contributed to the SUV’s appeal, not least an exemption from fuel economy regulations for off-road vehicles, and the fact that large cars were part of an American tradition that had already produced five-lane freeways, sprawling suburbs and almost limitless parking spaces.

In densely populated Britain it has been a different story. Cars such as Land Rovers and Range Rovers were initially aimed at the privileged country classes. Range Rover ran an ad campaign referring to grouse shooting with the line: “There’s only one car for the double-barrelled.” But after the 1980s, such cars and their imitators – both off-road and off-road manqués – made increasing incursions into the urban market, a cramped environment in the UK of narrow streets with limited opportunities to hunt wild game.

The same sort of driver-and-family-protection thinking we've seen elsewhere also plays into purchases of "Chelsea tractors" in Britain. But that article, being a Guardian article, also spends time with the sort of wild game hunter whose target is the tires of Chelsea tractors in the streets.  "Letting down a tyre is hardly blowing up a pipeline but it is a major irritant to the car’s driver." Yes, those are the sort of conscience-cowboys who leave a message under the windshield wiper about the carbon footprint.