Large pickups and SUVs should be taxed based on the negative externalities they generate. In fact, it should be applied to sedans based on size as well.
I don't know what it is about China's car culture that people ONLY buy C segment and above, unlike most of developing asia where B segment and smaller are the mainstream.
It's a huge waste of fuel, metals, energy, road maintenance, lane size, parking size, everything, for something like a VW Magotan to do the same thing as a Toyota Vios.
Top selling car in China is currently the Nissan Sylphy, better known as the Sentra in the US. Corolla is still up there along with compacts from Buick and VW that are unique to the Chinese market.
Pickups in China are growing in popularity but displacement laws and taxes puts them mainly at 2.0 liters even with diesels. They turbo them to get the power. Contrast to the 2.4, 2.8 and 3.0 liter turbo diesels used in the Asian and rest of the world markets. This is not even saying the 3.5 liter plus gas V6s and even V8s that go up to 7 liters used in many US pickups. The smallest engine used in a US pickups is a 2.3 liter turbo from Ford, followed by a 2.5 from GM and a 2.7 from Toyota. There is a growing trend of decreasing engine sizes in the US market but using turbos, but this can be trading long term engine durability for economy. Finally there is the Ford Maverick which is a hybrid pickup.
Europe is an interesting one as northern countries tend to have less, if rare, pickups, preferring the use of station wagons and vans. Enclosed vans are preferable due to the weather. We see that in Japan too.
But as you go south, you see more pickup use, and as you go east, more pickup use. In fact, as we head to agrarian, under developed East Asian, Latin American, Middle Eastern, Central Asian and African, we see more pickup use. But this genre of pickups are different from the big American pickups. Pickups are bought and used as they are intended, hauling real farm stuff and not millennial egos, often across muddy roads, sometimes carrying laborers and building materials in the mix.
Pickups to the Global South, which China is also now exporting, are much more bare bones, sometimes they are so old core they don't even have infotainment centers. This let them reduce the cost as low as US$10k, compared to near $30k for the lowest US pickups prices other than the hybrid Ford Maverick at 20k. The average pickup price in the US is well above $40k probably $50k while in the global South it's about $15 to $30k range. Yet these cheap emerging world pickups are packing turbodiesels that give you the towing capacity that a large gas V6 or V8 engine in the US pickups can offer, and still offer double the gas mileage with better long term durability with these engines easily going past the equivalent 300,000 miles or so.
As ladder in frame is cheaper to produce, and to take advantage of the existing pickup platforms, you also have the SUVs built based on these global pickups, like the Fortuner and Innova to the Hilux, Pajero or Montero Sport to the L200, the Mu-X to the D-Max, the Everest to the Ranger and the Terra to the Navarre. But popular as these SUVs are to the Asian and Indian markets they are not as space and fuel efficient as the 7 seater MPVs developed for the Asian market like the Avanza or box like JDMs like the Raize, while giving a less comfortable ride and handling.
But for agrarian farmers, the first choice will have to be a cheap pickup in the $10 to $20k range if they can afford to buy or go used. It is noted that the Ford Ranger actually starts around $16k or less with a turbo diesel compared to double the price of the US equivalent even if the global one is already on a new platform.
