East of Broken Bow | md.mcwill - 12/4/2025 20:02
I saw a Reuters news article that stated that station wagons are returning.
I thought SUVs are just prettier/taller station wagons. Yes some people do not me saying that but....
Not just station wagons, but smaller vehicles like the original Ford Ranger.
The irony of the whole thing is that the government standards that were set up to raise fuel mileage, had the result of ending the sales of small, fuel sipping vehicles and replaceing them with ever larger, heavier vehicles.
Take the Ford Ranger or Dodge Dakota. They started out as smaller, easy on fuel vehicles. However, as time went by, they had to meet ever increasing MPG goals, wich increased after so many years of production, but there was a loophole. If the vehicle grew in size/GVW, they didn't have to get as high of MPGs. This was a large reason, or in many cases the main reason that every so many years a new vehicle was rolled out a bit bigger and heavier than the older version. It was as much to get around the (nearly impossible) goals of the government requiring them to increse the MPGs of that vehicle. It got to the point that certain classes of smaller, higher MPG vehicles just started disappearing, or getting bigger and heavier over time, like the Ford Ranger or Dodge Dakota as perfect examples. Automakers also went to different classes of vehicles to get around the standards, as well, which is why you don't see many modestly priced smaller to mid-sized cars anymore. They are either SUVs (which have a different MPG standard) or they are luxury cars (which can more easily absorb the 'tax' for not meeting the MPG standards) or they are tiny little things which are small enough to meet the MPG standards. It also doesn't help that the government mandates tighter emissions standards (which by default lower MPGs) while at the same time requiring higher MPGs, which are harder and harder to do while meeting emission standards. The end results are things like engines that have cylinder de-activation and/or valve trains that are 10X as complex as they used to be, and engines that shut off when you stop at a stop sign for 10 seconds. |
Station wagons returning
