Canadians are buying more SUVs and trucks than ever, despite their higher costs and growing concerns about affordability and emissions. Here's a closer look at how government policies and automakers' strategies pushed consumers toward bigger, pricier vehicles.Despite the higher price tag, SUV and truck sales have grown exponentially in North America in recent decades, eclipsing sedans in the process. SUVs and trucks now represent 86 per cent of vehicle sales in Canada.
The trend has been greatly influenced by a combination of savvy marketing, government regulations that incentivize bigger vehicles and limited supply of more modest ones."Smaller cars are less profitable," said Stephanie Brinley, associate director at U.S.-based transportation consultancy S&P Global Mobility.
The company cited waning demand for small cars, but also acknowledged it wasn't making as much money selling them. Companies like GM and Volkswagen have taken a similar path. But instead of increasing the fuel economy of every model equally, it required automakers to increase the average fuel economy across their fleets. This created a two-tier system, where smaller cars balanced out the relatively poor fuel economy of larger ones.
"It plays to this reptilian brain that I think automakers did with SUVs and pickups, to basically say, 'Wouldn't you rather be … the biggest person on the road?'" Zipper said.Some Ontario groups are calling for greater safety measures for pedestrians and cyclists against larger vehicles, saying they have the research to prove they are more dangerous.
Seeing that SUVs and trucks are now inescapable on Canadian roads, Zoe Long wanted to understand why drivers like them so much, particularly since they cost more.