This is comparing a 3 series sedan with an SUV though. The closest modern analog to the E30 would be the 1 series, and while it’s larger and heavier it’s also more fuel efficient, faster, and safer.
What? Theywent from portable PC/phone to even more portable PC/phone. The same way they went from shit car for assholes to more shitty car for assholes.
Not only are modern cars huge, they're fuckin' ugly as well. I can't stand the "aggressive" look every car, truck, and SUV has nowadays. Sorry, but Mom's minivan does not need to look "aggressive". That thing is lucky to even reach a high speed to warrant such a look. The shapes of cars nowadays look like hideous blobs, especially most SUVs. Taillights taking up the whole rear end, weird headlight placement (who the fuck designed the Nissan Juke?) and other design choices that make the car look uglier every generation.
I know it's because of studies showing people like "aggressive" cars (because people are fucking stupid, it isn't aggressive if every car is aggressive) and aerodynamics are why cars look like blobs, but I sure miss when cars actually looked like cars. That died out in the late 90s/early 2000s.
The US has to fix the fuel efficiency laws so that small trucks don't have huge environmental fees associated with them. So many contractors and others who need a truck but don't want a modern behemoth would benefit.
Wouldn't knowledge about crumple zones and need for space for things like airbags, make cars bigger?
Not saying that is the main reason, but size reduction may not be a factor to focus on its own, right?
What I'm about to type might come as a nitpick and missing the point so let me say this upfront: This post is very much true. Cars have gotten way too big and the loopholes in government laws and environmental regulations that allow this shit to happen need to be closed. Consumers should also be smarter and more diligent with their purchases.
With that said, there's a small disparity with the car example. The car on the left (BMW 3 Series E30, I think) would be classified as a sedan. The car on the right (BMW X series, don't know which specifically) would classified as an SUV, more specifically the (abysmal) crossover category.
I vaguely remember some quote from the 1990s along the lines of "if cars had had the same technological growth rate as computers, by now, they'd go bazillion kilometers with a drop of gasoline, had engines the size of sugar cubes, and would cost a penny and a half."