this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2026
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Fuck Cars

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It’s the SUV tyranny: where have all the normal family cars gone? | Coco Khan (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 3 days ago by DaGreenGobbo@feddit.uk to c/fuckcars@lemmy.world
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Recently, while traipsing from showroom to showroom in search of a used car for my growing clan, the iconic line from Christopher Nolan’s seminal Batman movie The Dark Knight came to mind: “You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” And by villain, of course, I mean an SUV driver.

Because, if you haven’t shopped for a secondhand family car recently, I’ll save you the shock: wherever you look, it’s SUVs.

It’s no surprise when these giant cars now make up 30% of all cars on the road and were 50% of all new car sales in rich countries in 2023. The look has been so popular that traditional body styles have been modified into taller, wider frames. Even Volvo, the defining family car brand, now only offers SUVs in the UK. All of which means that if, like me, you want a car under 10 years old, hoping it lasts another five, your options are “tank” and “tank-ette”.

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[–] GreatBlueHeron@lemmy.ca 0 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I may be missing something here, but I don't see the problem with the newer "tank-ette"s. We have a 2025 Nissan Kicks - sure it's SUV shaped, but it's not tall or have any of the issues typically associated with SUVs (I'm not an expert on these issues - happy to be educated here) - it really is just an SUV shaped car. Where I live there are lots of oversized pickups on the road, but there are also LOTS of Honda Civics and Hyundai Elantras - both still available in the classic sedan configuration.

I'm not trying to say there are not huge issues with the car industry/culture - I just feel this article is exaggerating the issue a little. Or, maybe it's a market by market thing and Civics and Elantras aren't available in the author's market..

[–] grue@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

We have a 2025 Nissan Kicks - sure it's SUV shaped, but it's not tall or have any of the issues typically associated with SUVs (I'm not an expert on these issues - happy to be educated here) - it really is just an SUV shaped car.

I want to see one of those image overlay comparisons done between a Nissan Kicks (or similar small crossover) and a pre-WWII sedan:

"Cars" (as opposed to "trucks" or "vans") have been lower to the ground for a long time until recently, but there is precedent for them being tall if you go back far enough.