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Comment by sillystuff | Hacker News Reader

This isn't a truck.

This is an SUV that is vaguely truck shaped.

I want a small truck with a 6 foot/ 2m bed, and regular cab so the vehicle is still a reasonable length that can fit in a parking space. 3/4 ton or 1 ton suspension like on some of the old small Toyota trucks would be ideal. I'd like to get this small truck with a few safety features like air bags that are missing from the 70's - early 90's Japanese trucks that otherwise fit the bill.

I don't understand why automakers seem incapable of building a small truck anymore. There are smaller cars that pass safety testing, so that is not it.

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My understanding is that there are a few factors, but two of the dumbest are the "chicken tax", which is a 25% tariff imposed on imported light trucks, and the CAFE standard calculation for allowable miles per gallon without paying a fine. That calculation has a bug that makes it so the larger your vehicle footprint, the fewer miles per gallon your vehicle needs to output to qualify. So, perversely, it ends up punishing smaller vehicles and rewarding giant trucks, which is not what it was supposedly intended to do.

It seems like being all-electric should get you around that mileage requirement, so it's possible that that last one is not as much of a factor. But that is the conventional wisdom about why they won't sell an actual compact truck in the U.S. market, despite the fact that all those old Toyotas and Rangers from the 90s are still being kept on the road because people love them.

Ten years ago there were an array of new vehicle maker regulations, particularly around fuel economy, that scale based on vehicle weight. The vehicle weight bar for purchasers to receive business expense tax relief was also set high. These ended up being a perverse incentive toward making trucks larger and heavier than ever, while lacking proportionate power (because of fuel economy). The result is comically large trucks getting stuck on tiny obstacles.

Now that large trucks have settled in consumer perception as the new and shiny, it's a self-enforcing vicious cycle regardless of regulatory reform.

Because people aren't buying a truck for the truck. They are buying a truck shaped car as a status symbol and so they prioritize cab space vs. bed space.

> I want a small truck with a 6 foot/ 2m bed, and regular cab so the vehicle is still a reasonable length

The 2024 Tacoma will be available with 2 doors and a 6 foot bed. It won't be a "regular" cab, more like the slightly extended cab from back in the jump seat days. But no jump seats, just storage cubbies.

I guess a lot of it is the commitment to 4 doors, 2 full rows of seating. For a long time I didn't understand why pickups were so popular (didn't pay attention to cars at all), being so impractical for moving people -- until I realized that modern pickups are full-size SUVs inside, plus a short bed.

I've read it's much easier to build a large/standard truck with a big motor than a small truck with a more efficient motor because of the current EPA rules. The rules don't make a lot of sense but I'm no expert, only what I've read/heard from the industry.

Do you mean something like a Toyota Hilux?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Hilux

Largely automakers don't make a lot of long bed trucks because they don't sell. Ford/GM/Ram all make long bed trucks but they only really sell for fleets.

But if you check out the Ford Maverick you can put 3/4 of a ton in the bed, and you get modern safety features.

I'm with you. My personal desire is for a Japanese body-on-frame truck with a 6' bed, two doors, jump seats/a small back seat (but no third/rear door(s)), some kind of 4wd, that can tow 5000+ lbs.

I totally agree. I have an older Ford Ranger and I hope it lasts forever because I don't see a newer truck on the market that fits your description and has as much utility as my little Ranger with a 6' bed.

I've been wanting this exact product for years. Decades now. I don't need power or towing. Nor do I need to transport anyone else but me and one other. But I do want a long truck bed -- 6 foot!

They're not incapable of building this truck, it's just the market doesn't want it. There simply aren't enough of us wanting this truck for the automakers to make it.

Ford Maverick?

This isn't an SUV that is vaguely truck shaped. This is a few renders of something they haven't committed to building.

Putting that aside, if they thought they'd move the numbers to justify it, I'm sure they'd build what you want.

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