It’s not a tax break. Emissions standards for vehicles were established a couple decades ago. Some lobbying happened, as it does, and an exception was given to pickup trucks. Not an exception carving out work trucks in particular, just all pickups. Then someone had the idea to build a minivan around a pickup truck chassis and now we have SUVs everywhere.
In 1978, Congress established the “Gas Guzzler Tax,” requiring automakers to pay between $1,000 and $7,700 for every car produced that gets less than 22.5 miles per gallon. But the tax only applies to passenger vehicles like sedans and station wagons. SUVs and pickups, which often have much worse gas mileage, are exempt. That omission makes no sense from a policy perspective, but it is good news for carmakers producing inefficient behemoths.
This isn’t tax breaks, it is EPA economy vs passenger space rules meant to force automakers to develop more fuel efficient engines. Instead, automakers keep extending the cabs and wheelbase. That’s why all the big trucks are super cabs with tiny beds.
It’s a few things IMO. The CAFE light truck loophole you mention, the car footprint loopholes that were added by bush and Obama, and the lowest in the world gas taxes.
The US needs to stop giving special tax breaks to giant trucks.
At this point policy ideas that benefit us at all sound like some faraway dream.
It’s not a tax break. Emissions standards for vehicles were established a couple decades ago. Some lobbying happened, as it does, and an exception was given to pickup trucks. Not an exception carving out work trucks in particular, just all pickups. Then someone had the idea to build a minivan around a pickup truck chassis and now we have SUVs everywhere.
In 1978, Congress established the “Gas Guzzler Tax,” requiring automakers to pay between $1,000 and $7,700 for every car produced that gets less than 22.5 miles per gallon. But the tax only applies to passenger vehicles like sedans and station wagons. SUVs and pickups, which often have much worse gas mileage, are exempt. That omission makes no sense from a policy perspective, but it is good news for carmakers producing inefficient behemoths.
This isn’t tax breaks, it is EPA economy vs passenger space rules meant to force automakers to develop more fuel efficient engines. Instead, automakers keep extending the cabs and wheelbase. That’s why all the big trucks are super cabs with tiny beds.
You’re right, I misspoke.
It’s a few things IMO. The CAFE light truck loophole you mention, the car footprint loopholes that were added by bush and Obama, and the lowest in the world gas taxes.