[alexjplant]

> The SUV craze was a thing 30yr ago and arguably peaked 20yr ago.

This is not the case as less than half as many cars are sold or leased today as the time frame you're talking about [1]. In the same period truck sales and leases have increased by more than half.

> "Why is it a problem now?" seems to be a question that has no flattering answers.

Not sure what you mean by this specifically. It was a problem them and is an even bigger problem now. The vehicles in question use more fuel than cars on average and are substantially deadlier to non-occupants because they keep getting bigger [2]. This is all despite both relative and absolute declines in blue-collar employment in the same period [3]. In short - people are spending increasingly-large sums of money on dangerous, depreciating assets that they have no need for. Every metric involved here is moving in the wrong direction to the detriment of society.

What should be done about this is an open question but I don't think it's controversial to say that it's A Problem.

[1] https://www.bts.gov/content/new-and-used-passenger-car-sales...

[2] https://www.fastcompany.com/91233935/suvs-keep-getting-bigge...

[3] https://cepr.net/publications/the-decline-of-blue-collar-job...