Yes, Why Are SUV's Getting Even Bigger?

I always thought the people carriers were suitable for larger families and could accommodate the necessary car seats etc.
I realise people may prefer SUVs which is fine but I don’t think the trend to keep enlarging them is strictly necessary and more a status thing.

Astitchintime yes, that is why I asked for more details of which vehicles are being classed as Chelsea Tractors

Child/Baby seats are much bigger nowadays and are legally required for longer.

A lot of these bigger cars are electric or hybrid, especially the new ones coming out of China, so technically they are better for the environment and we are being encouraged to buy them.

I think cars in general are becoming bigger and this could be partly due to law changes whereby children under certain heights have to be in booster/child seats……if someone has three children all under a certain height it wouldn’t be easy getting three booster/child seats side by side on the back seat of a small saloon, in fact I’d say that would be impossible. Just because a back seat has three seat belts doesn’t mean it is possible to add safety seating for three children - possibly why vehicles are becoming bigger….and they aren’t all Chelsea tractors!
Also, what about driver and/or passenger mobility? both myself and MrA struggle physically to get into a regular saloon, the lower profile of such vehicles makes it impossible for us to get in and out of the cars. Are we expected to struggle just because people object to SUV’s?
Technically, our own car is classed as a saloon but it is higher, very slightly wider and there’s lots of similar vehicles on the roads…….does’nt make it a large SUV or a Chelsea tractor.

Well, if you're a family with two or more children, then you may well struggle to fit their car seats into a small car - that's one possible reason why people may want them.

People have an erroneous idea that they are safer than smaller cars. They are not, they are less stable and are more likely to kill any person they hit, than smaller cars.

There are few situations, if any in this country were other than those professional involved with land management need to drive off road - and they drive good old fashioned land rovers or their modern equivalent. DS is an archaeologist and some sites he has worked on have been pretty remote and he has always managed with just a family saloon car.

These Chelsea tractors also have minimal luggage space, we have always run estate cars of various makes because we do need carrying space.

I suspect, except for a few who have a specialised need for such vehicles, it is entirely a question of machismo, or as we say in this household, short willy syndrome.

We have a friend who is working for a Chinese car manufacturer newish to this country, the cars are huge but function just like any other car carrying the same number of passengers.
I do not understand.

What vehicles are they putting in the Chelsea Tractor category please?

Am not sure why people need such massive vehicles, though perhaps some will come on here to explain. I suppose if car manufacturers create a trend people will follow it. Years ago people coped with smaller cars with even estate and saloon cars being a fraction of the size of today’s vehicles, and I never remember anyone complaining that their car was far too small or that they wished they could drive a tractor sized vehicle to do the school run.
Is weird really.