[garvield]

There is another form factor: station wagons. I don't know why they have fallen so out of fashion in the US, they are such practical cars. Fit a family of four? No problem. Need material for your project? Fold the back seats and fit full sheets of plywood.

Not even the full size SUVs has as much space as a regular old station wagon.

[throwaway0a5e]

They went out of favor because vehicle body design trends (largely driven by safety requirements) make them have a lot less practical space inside for a given external size.

The idiots who cooked up the CAFE footprint rule that resulted in all the OEMs cramming the axles to the far ends of the vehicle (killing a lot of trunk space in the process) are probably responsible for the biggest share but it's very much a death by a thousand cuts situation.