SUVs: It started with chickens

Yep. Chickens.

At least according to Eduardo Porter writing for the NY Times. It's tied into the story of tariffs for light trucks as Porter explains. You should read it.

But the Ford F-Series pickup did not rule the roost as the nation’s best-selling vehicle, on an annual basis, from 1981 to last year [!!] just because gas was cheap. Its ascent required a helping hand from Uncle Sam. As Washington scrambles for a policy to achieve the incompatible goals of making fuel cheaper and making Americans use less of it, it might consider the twisted tale of how four-wheel-drive gas hogs became Detroit’s best sellers.

Of course, my taste in cars has always been a bit idiosyncratic, but I always thought there was much more than simple customer demand behind what Detroit could build and sell. I've also felt that the SUVs, whatever their virtues (and around here in the wintertime I can see their virtues) were usually the wrong type of vehicle for an urban family. Minivans and old fashioned station wagons made more sense.

Well, my next car will be something weird, like a SmartCar or a Ford Fiesta ... though NOT, I am afraid, the 65 mpg Fiesta I would really like.