For a little while my mentality was that vehicles were getting so big here that my family was better off in the biggest thing on the road. We bought a GMC Yukon XL Denali.
I wised up and downsized twice. First to a minivan then a smaller SUV.
You're not wrong. But the other commenter is equally right. I was never given a poll or survey for preferred vehicle size, it's just what the market is, not selected by commuters. It's an industry thing.
Most people are like you. We look around us and get what seems normal. Unfortunately, marketing and constant push to get the bigger(and more expensive) vehicle changes what the normal would be if we just humbly choose the simpler cost-effective option.
Bullshit, you can get a maverick, Ridgeline, etc. They sell like shit because they don't tow as much and offer less around large bulky items that folks like a truck bed for. Small trucks are rarely a suitable use case outside smaller tradesman and for most of them an actual van is more efficient and better business use case.
The Merrick sales spiked as a new model selling 75k of them to pent up demand. They sold 150k vans. They sold nearly 700k f150s.
Small pickups are a dumb class of vehicle which will always be a niche class. SUVs tow as much. Vans offer a better vehicle for less cost than a 1/4 ton pickup.
This comic is 38 years old and still relevant. My friend just bought a new car and got absolutely ripped off at 26% interest. Sure he can refinance later, but he bought more vehicle than he needed at a high price.