I decided that I wanted to own at some point in my life every type of vehicle except a mini van. When my crossover got totaled by a deer last December I decided it was time to buy an F150 as my first pickup. Before y’all crucify me for this:
1. I live on a gentleman’s farm and actually do use this vehicle for transporting construction materials and such. That bed is rarely empty.
2. I work from home and ride my motorcycle year round. My bike gets great mph compared to even electric hybrids. My truck is used for transporting stuff that needs a truck to transport or for short runs to get kids to/from school or camp on occasion.
With that, Ford walked away from making cars. They now make crossovers, SUVs, and trucks specifically because nobody was buying cars. I have read a bunch about why and mainly it comes down to the fact that cars are just not desirable anymore. The form factor isn’t fun or fashionable, you sit on a skateboard compared to everyone else on the road, and they feel cheap. They are absolutely the economical option the same way that 50cc scooters are, but they are not an option that people actually want. You can’t convince people to buy that little cab Subaru from TFA for the same reason: it just isn’t an aspirational vehicle. I think we will see most of that form factor die out in the next 30 years in favor of hatchback crossovers and small pickups like the Ford Maverick (which by all means looks like a car replacement).