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What’s the point of one of these over a small commercial van?
The trucks appeal is its utility. The bed is lower than any US truck. the sides and tail drop down for easy access. The bed is just as big as a regular truck. They often come in 4WD. The engine is tiny so they sip gasoline. Most important is they are very cheap.
I think it’s the same thing with the ‘tiny house’ craze a few years back.
Affluent neo-liberals like to use their excess wealth to buy small things for big prices.
There are thousands of tiny homes in my province, occupied by people who would otherwise be living rough.
Maybe it’s because they’re bad with money.
If they’re living on a budget, buying a tiny home is one of the worst decisions they can make!
It’s because they’re fucking homeless. They aren’t buying them, they are provided by charity as an improvement over tent encampments.
I am countering your point that they are used by affluent people. Here, they are often used by organizations like this: https://www.abettertentcity.org/
That’s kinda what I was thinking but maybe there’s something I am missing.
At least for me, the appeal of these trucks is that they’re old Japanese trucks that were going to be destroyed otherwise. If I was just getting a new commercial vehicle then I’d just get a van that people can’t steal stuff from as easily.
In the US it might have a lower value. In Japan it’s perfect as a “city van” - cities are packed very dense, so you don’t need to drive too long with a lot of deliveries. This just does the job. If you need to go off-road or between cities, you get a proper truck/van.
The one I linked to (this) sells for the equivalent of 14720 USD this with a 15% VAT, so without taxes it is 12800 USD. For comparison, the F-150 in the same market sells for the equivalent of 49036 USD, this is including 15% VAT.
They sell small commercial vans too.