Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Tele man
...which: a marketing ploy or EPA loop-hole dodgement, or both?
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Both, of course. Automakers didn't want to spend money meeting emissions/safety standards, and saw how they can dodge them by putting car bodies on truck frames (so they only have to meet less stringent truck standards). But for the dodging to work, they had to get large numbers* of people to buy them, therefore the massive advertising campaign selling "adventure", with all the footage of SUVs tearing through unspoiled countryside &c.
*I say large numbers, because there was a small market for SUV-like vehicles earlier, like the Jeep station wagon or the International Scout, that were mostly bought by people who actually needed their capabilities.