> All this to say, at the pricing I've seen there is very little reason for someone renting a car to choose to rent a compact.

I can think of roughly 2 MM possible reasons[1] in conjunction with 1 regulatory constraint[2] that might suggest an investment in a fleet of compacts may not have been an entirely reckless business decision at the time...not that I would have swallowed that pill myself...just saying.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_De...

[2] https://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/Docs/perdiem/JTR.pdf Ref. § 020209