CAFE is the problem.

Reader comment on: How Regulation Killed the Station Wagon and Created the Minivan
in response to reader comment: and what were the regs that a wagon couldn't fit??

Submitted by James (United States), Jul 6, 2019 18:33

It wasn't just wagons, it was large sedans and even light trucks under 8,500 lbs GVWR (half tons).

CAFE regulations mandated an average fuel economy, these rolled out in the Carter era late 70s. At the same time cars got much smaller and pickup truck sales took off. SUVs had been around prior, but their sales weren't a large portion of the market.
As fullsized cars got smaller, so did wagons not just in size, but capacity, and engines.
Customers still wanted a large vehicle with a larger engine, and this is where pickups and SUVs took off.
Minivans were a different outcome. Most had deplorable safety ratings, and the Chrysler vans were small and underpowered, netting relatively poor fuel economy. But they had passenger capacity, without the same fuel economy or safety regulations. This is important. Your land barge staionwagon was rarely more than a couple inches longer than the sedan counterpart, but had to meet the same sedan crash worthiness, fuel economy, and design requirements.
This is more than a death of station wagons effect, it has largely impacted sedan sales as Cross-Over-Utility-Vehicles continue to grow in popularity.
All of this comes at a price and it is the Consumer who pays the price. Large sedans, which even V8 sedans, are more fuel efficient overall than mdisized V6 SUVs, are expensive and often in the luxury market. Small sedans are left to carry the burden of CAFE, so vehicles with questionable safety ratings, remember all crash test scores are based on a collision with a vehicle of similar mass, are sold to the lowest income earners. Same story, the rich can afford bigger, safer, than the poor. Well, pickups balance that out to a degree, and that upsets folks who want to take away free choice.
Who wants to drive a V8, land barge?
The person who asks: who wants to drive a tiny little compact that doesn't do well in a crash against a pickup.

I occasionally get asked about my 3/4 ton diesel truck. Why do I need it, it is a monstrous beast, questions about my manhood, etc. Mostly from leftists and busy-Body types. But my diesel truck gets better fuel economy than my sister's Grand Caravan. My diesel truck can haul my equipment I use to make a living, where a 1/2 ton would have a much shorter life and struggle with the load. My diesel truck has 2 bench seats. Myself, my wife, the 3 kids, and the dog, we all can roll together. My wife has a mid sized SUV that fits 3 car seats. Her 20mpg, is slightly better than my 18mpg, both in mixed driving.

CAFE was a 4 lane divided good intentioned highway that led straight to the hell we are in now.

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Other reader comments on this item

Title	By	Date
I hate my minivan [80 words]	Judith Beesing	Jul 22, 2019 18:54
I Want What This Guy Is Smokin' [84 words]	Bart Logan	Jul 7, 2019 19:14
Freedom has become un-American [55 words]	MrLiberty	Jul 7, 2019 17:42
False article premise--Station wagons survived for many years after advent of minivan [71 words]	KillaB	Jul 6, 2019 20:38
Regulation [69 words]	NorthernCal_Rick	Jul 6, 2019 19:25
Better Gas Mileage [27 words]	Cosmic Dog	Jul 6, 2019 16:46
totally false [88 words]	jason wong	Jul 6, 2019 13:38
↔ Not Wrong [27 words]	Mike	Jul 7, 2019 16:50
False [7 words]	Adolfo Bacon	Jul 6, 2019 13:22
First Minivans [97 words]	Mike	Jul 6, 2019 12:54
Article Is Wrong [70 words]	Peter	Jul 6, 2019 12:29
Guess vs Reality [23 words]	F. Stephen Masek	Jul 6, 2019 12:21
Minivans have been around since the 40s [62 words]	Elmer	Jul 6, 2019 11:49
Regulations [8 words]	Dr Albert Gortenbull	Jul 6, 2019 10:52
Three Cheers for the Station Wagon [18 words]	Robert E. Schoenle	Jul 6, 2019 10:36
↔ Sorry, they are not gone [69 words]	Sam on left coast	Jul 6, 2019 18:39
Government Screws Up Everything It Touches [34 words]	Tim Kuehl	Jul 6, 2019 09:32
The actual effects of most regulation by the new plantation lords. [82 words]	Jim Whitehead	Jul 6, 2019 09:09
i miss the full bench seat [13 words]	gary the hairy	Jul 6, 2019 08:56
government knows best [97 words]	Irwin Chusid	Jul 6, 2019 08:36
↔ Our size preferences over the decades are the same [41 words]	mta3000	Jul 6, 2019 10:37
BS [53 words]	BG	Jul 6, 2019 08:13
Beer can metal and plastic [16 words]	Jonathon Richardson	Jul 6, 2019 07:55
Economy vs. emissions [43 words]	Dennis	Jul 6, 2019 07:52
You're wrong about fuel economy [32 words]	Rick	Jul 6, 2019 07:17
"minivans" [47 words]	Steven Robbins	Jul 6, 2019 06:52
obsolescence [20 words]	willis forster	Jul 6, 2019 06:25
↔ Wagons are coming back [12 words]	Daniel B Hooker	Jul 6, 2019 20:18
Wagons Roll On In Europe [42 words]	Mike_in_Kyiv	Jul 6, 2019 02:24
Regulations or the Market caused Changes? [53 words]	bea frank	Jul 6, 2019 00:50
Station wagons [12 words]	JohnnyG	Jul 6, 2019 00:39
Tariffs by a Democrat? [22 words]	bea frank	Jul 6, 2019 00:35
Glad Wagon Went Extinct [17 words]	Dave	Jul 5, 2019 23:34
Regulations are Abominable [64 words]	Boris Blank	Jul 5, 2019 22:29
The Road To Hell Is paved With Good Intentions [14 words]	2VW	Jul 5, 2019 22:08
Government is the problem [16 words]	Seamus	Jul 5, 2019 21:50
Station Wagons [51 words]	TSF	Jul 5, 2019 21:43
Unintended Consequences [173 words]	David W. Pennington, PE	Jul 5, 2019 21:29
Fuel Standards [40 words]	Tom Sunday	Jul 5, 2019 21:00
Invent minivan? [41 words]	Lee Welter	Jul 5, 2019 20:31
↔ Japan was making minivans years before Chrysler [26 words]	Ron miller	Jul 6, 2019 13:15
↔ What else was new? [32 words]	Lee Welter	Jul 7, 2019 01:00
Ford Flex [156 words]	ANJr	Jul 5, 2019 20:25
regulation killed the wagon, I dont think so [19 words]	yarpos	Jul 5, 2019 20:19
Control addicts [114 words]	Larry Pierson	Jul 5, 2019 19:58
and what were the regs that a wagon couldn't fit?? [23 words]	Liz Snyder	Jul 5, 2019 19:57
↔ ⇒ CAFE is the problem. [464 words]	James	Jul 6, 2019 18:33
Government STUPIDITY! [14 words]	Shannon Tannenbaum	Jul 5, 2019 19:34
↔ Always an out [30 words]	Chris Halas	Jul 5, 2019 22:50
Another Government ScrewUp [45 words]	Maud St James	Jul 5, 2019 19:19
Soup by Committee [73 words]	Bartholomew Nillsonn	Jul 5, 2019 19:13
Government workers would otherwise be unemployed [175 words]	Ole Dad	Jul 5, 2019 19:08
Still have wagons [22 words]	FutureUser	Jul 5, 2019 18:49
↔ Still have mine [11 words]	DIANE	Jul 6, 2019 03:28
↔ Adam Smith would be ashamed of you [114 words]	ArtMofo	Jul 6, 2019 04:04
Another Reason to Keep government out of the market. [24 words]	Fernando	Jul 5, 2019 18:39
Stupid is as Stupid Does [11 words]	John Lewis	Jul 5, 2019 18:18
Regulation Killed More than Stationwagons [47 words]	jef	Jul 5, 2019 18:13
↔ The new station wagons [74 words]	Jordan	Jul 6, 2019 13:01
Ford's recent move toward all SUVs? [16 words]	Larry	Jul 5, 2019 18:12
↔ Re: Ford [25 words]	Paul Patzer	Jul 5, 2019 23:08
↔ FORD'S [w/response] [33 words]	Steven Robbins	Jul 6, 2019 14:23

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