Why we can't get small pickup trucks anymore..

[ironglow]

  First off...I am not telling anybody else they should not buy a big, 4 door, fire breathing truck if they want one...so please don't badger me with
   arguments for the big ones..   Just help yourself to one...or two..or three..makes no difference to me.

  However, I always liked the small trucks, for my own use, those from the 70s through the 90s..  I started out with 3 Datsuns, then a couple Chevy Luvs (Isusu), then a Ford courier (Mazda)...  Then when American companies caught on, with the S-10s and Ford Rangers..I had several Rangers in a row.  My wife even had a VW Rabbit truck for a while..

  Then, mysteriously...small trucks seem to have dried up...so why?  I finally found the plausible explanation...GOVERNMENT MEDDLING !

  Yes, it seems a bevy of nonsense bureaucrats have decided to tell the builders just how to build their vehicles... not that the bureaucrats know
   anything, but they have tyrannical power..and feel obliged to use it !

   Their formula creates more confusioin and mess than if they had just left it alone, and allow the market to lead, just allow the public decide.
    Darn !  We  sure have been spoiled by our Constitutional taste of freedom since 1787..

    Their mess explained..

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azI3nqrHEXM

   

[Bob Riebe]

Willys, Ford, Chevrolet all had U.S. made small pick-ups in the early sixties, they did not sell well.
Along came foreign sourced pick-ups, they did not sell well.

Small pick-ups, including those actually built by U.S. companies in foreign countries, sell well in other countries. but not  here.
Too many  government rules is one of the cancers that affect production in the auto industry now.

[ironglow]

  The EPA rules seem to be working contrary to what they claim to be fighting.  My small pickups carried 1 or 2 regularly, although 3 was a bit cdrowded.

  Today ewven though 4 door, 6 passenger pickups are the norm...still we most often see them carrying 1 or 2 people..and about 85% of the time, unloaded.

   The S10s, Rangers and Tacomas were very popular..at least around here, from the   1970s through the 2010s..

[Ranger99]

 

  . . .   Then, mysteriously...small trucks seem to have dried up...so why?  I finally found the plausible explanation...GOVERNMENT MEDDLING !

Well sir,  I can tell you with authority that
the gubmint has been meddling with your
vehicle choices a lot longer than you've
probably been aware of.
I started working at new car dealers around
'80-'81, and they had their grubby little hands
in the cookie dough long before I came along.
There's oodles of gubmint regulations and
DOT specifications that have to be met
associated with the manufacture of American
vehicles,  and legions of bureaucrats to make
sure that everything is held to the line.
Over the years I've had to take several lifetimes
of educations to be able to work at the places
I've worked, and I have a couple of boxes of
certifications ( that are worthless outside of
the automotive world) such as ASE certifications,
Ford Motor Company, Cummins, Caterpillar,
the American Petroleum Institute, Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality ( formerly
Texas Water Commission) safety certification to
operate a forklift,  etc. etc.

We could have some really reliable nice vehicles
that are common man affordable if not for the
gubmint and the *** and the sales d*ldos of the
world. I've met some very talented and knowledgeable
field engineers and other genius experienced
automotive experts over the years.

All the while, our gubmint beats us over the head
with feel good rules and regulations and all the
time places like india and china and the southern
latin countries all spew out more atmospheric
garbage than the worst 1950's rust belt factory
ever did. We subsidize pinhead scientists to
find minute tiny things that might possibly emit
a grain of toxic something if it's heated to 400F
degrees, or force fed to a laboratory rat so they
can submit a scathing report to the gubmint and
receive another year's funding
Not to even mention the business degree types that
have pervaded all aspects of the nation's industries.
It's a big blankety blanking mess that won't ever get
fixed while enty level fast food jobs are paying 20+
an hour, and loans morph into grants to be funded
by the taxpayers
Been way to much enabling
and making excuses for too long

[Lloyd Smale]

agreed bob. they just dont sell like the full sized trucks and manufacturers are struggling as it is and arent going to dump there shareholders money into something that wont sell well. ford jumped in with the new ranger. they got in a market with virtually no competition chevy already got the mid sized colorado so i doubt youll see 2 small trucks from them. ram has the rampage they sell overseas and are considering selling here but its another midsize. id bet if someone else brought out a small truck it would cut the ranger sales to the point neither made a profit. lots of things id like to see too. id love to see a short box standard cab silverado with the 6.2 in it or the same from ram with a 392. im not the only one. the internet is full of mock up pictures. but there not going to make it because Lloyd wants it. the bean counters have to have beans to count and the market for a little truck is small. add to that theres very little profit from a stripped down no option anything. best bet is go on craigs list or some other site and search for an older rust free truck down south. i know its not as small and plain as you like but i picked up a short box standard cab gmc last summer in southern ohio for 10k that dam near looks new. my 2020 ram has more dings and scratches. im sure you could find a similar deal on what you want if you looked. but i sure wouldnt hold my breath that a new stripped down little truck will come out. or jump on a ranger before the market tells ford to dump it

Willys, Ford, Chevrolet all had U.S. made small pick-ups in the early sixties, they did not sell well.
Along came foreign sourced pick-ups, they did not sell well.

Small pick-ups, including those actually built by U.S. companies in foreign countries, sell well in other countries. but not  here.
Too many  government rules is one of the cancers that affect production in the auto industry now.

[ironglow]

  I would hope everyine watched the video..since it was explained that the change in models and production numbers, was totally due to government
   interference.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azI3nqrHEXM

   Jon maintains an interesting website.. worth checking out.  https://www.youtube.com/@AllCarswithJon

[Bob Riebe]

  I would hope everyine watched the video..since it was explained that the change in models and production numbers, was totally due to government  interference.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azI3nqrHEXM
   Jon maintains an interesting website.. worth checking out.  https://www.youtube.com/@AllCarswithJon

Interesting, and the government IS the PROBLEM.

But at that does say European companies are willing to pay tens of millions in penalties, which is where, does not sell well enough , hits U.S. companies (and Asian) if a compact by X company sold like hot cakes to a starving group, that company -- might -- consider paying the taxes.

The last part about the long wheel base and lack of interest by buyers is also where , does not sell well enough , can still affect an item, though I am sure the U.S. feds would attack it,  if it, was being sold.

Since 1968 god wannabes in Washington, and later State Capitals, have been making life miserable for those not getting paid with a government pension.

[ironglow]

  It seems like the bureaucrats in Washington tend to make backward decisions concerning a host of issues.  Perhaps they hire politician's kids fresh out of college , to decide technical issues....and it doesn't matter if they were a "lesbian dance" major..  

[Dixie-Dude]

I had a small Toyota back in the 1980's and in the 90's I had a Ford Ranger.  Both good little trucks.  Could haul a lot of things around.  Lumber (8' lengths) just hung over the tailgate.  Go slow and tie it in no problem.  Had a camper top that I used on the Toyota, then switched it over to the Ranger.  Gave the Toyota to my oldest son and he promply wrecked it.