[13rac1]

A reason cars keep getting larger is fuel-economy laws.

> Expanding a car's footprint — the wheelbase multiplied by the track width — gives it a lower fuel-economy target to meet under the CAFE standards negotiated by automakers and regulators.

https://www.autonews.com/article/20160814/OEM11/308159946/is...

[deeth_starr_v]

The obvious answer is buyer preference and cheaper gas.

https://www.theonion.com/a-statement-followed-by-a-question-...

[Wowfunhappy]

Huh, so why do cars in Europe tend to be smaller, where I was under the impression that emission laws are stricter?

[ggsp]

Because the CAFE standards are a US thing

[ultrarunner]

During diesel gate I did a lot of research, none of which I still have sadly. Diesel emissions regulations were generally slightly stricter in the U.S. I found that pretty surprising at the time.

[fmajid]

That may explain why diesel is so rare for consumer cars and SUVs in the US compared to Europe.

[claudex]

The cars are smaller than in the US but they are getting bigger. For example, the VW Golf is 0.6m longer between the first model and the last one.