[roenxi]

As far as I recall the most expensive two purchases a family makes are the house and car. So while nobody needs a truck, that statistic might reflect the relatively lower disposable incomes in the EU. Trucks could plausibly be the better mode of human transport but the EU doesn't quite have the finances to make it happen.

I don't think we can be confident that social signalling is the major factor here.

[coldtea]

>So while nobody needs a truck, that statistic might reflect the relatively lower disposable incomes in the EU

Nah, people with higher disposable incomes don't buy trucks either. Not to mention in the US tons of regular working class people buy tracks, when people with 2x to 10x their income in Europe don't.

>Trucks could plausibly be the better mode of human transport but the EU doesn't quite have the finances to make it happen.

LOL, what people would believe!

[roenxi]

> Nah, people with higher disposable incomes don't buy trucks either.

Sorry I've missed a step. In your first comment I thought you meant buying a truck was people status signalling that they were affluent. If you don't think that, what do you think is being signalled?

[coldtea]

Above I'm answering to the propose explanation that basically "Europeans don't buy them because they can't afford them", so my comment should be read as:

"nah, it's not that, as people with higher disposable incomes *in the EU* don't buy such trucks either".

I just left out the "in the EU" there, to be implied by the context I was replying to.

That said, I didn't mean to imply that "buying a truck was people status signalling that they were affluent" in the US.

Just that they think (or made to think) they need it, and that they culturally like the extravaganza - same way many in the US think they need bigger cars and sneer at European sized cars.

[darthrupert]

That they do real work?

[coldtea]

We already excluded that group:

"Outside farming and certain professionals nobody really needs a truck"

[jltsiren]

I think the biggest reason is that trucks are less practical in Europe.

European streets are often narrower and parking spaces smaller. Many trucks that are popular in the US are so heavy that you may not be allowed to drive them with a standard license. You need a truck license, which may be valid only for a few years and have stricter standards. And due to the climate, you are more likely to have to protect the cargo from the elements, which shifts the balance towards vans. But vans are not very convenient in daily use.