Nice conspiracy theory, but no. Among other problems, the market demanded larger vehicles and the value proposition wasn’t there. The compact pickups cost 3/4-7/8 what a stripped down full size truck did and they weren’t 3/4-7/8s as much truck.
In fact, CAFE and other regs made it so companies would *greatly* benefit if makers made smaller trucks as this would boost their truck CAFE numbers. This is why GM kept the Tracker in their lineup so long, to cite one example. However, people stopped buying them in the 2000s so the trucks either had to upsize or go away.
The two door SUV has basically gone away for the similar reasons. There are only two left on the US market - the Jeep Wrangler and a really expensive Land Rover that’s about to get canceled. And Chrysler’s said that since more than 75% of Wrangler sales are of the four door version, if demand drops much more for the two door, it will be canceled.
From another web page. I have seen similar explanations elsewhere.
Chevyman21 replied the topic: Why they don’t make small pickup trucks anymore?
CAFE standards have made it prohibitive. CAFE is based on wheelbase and a small pickup makes it hard to meet the standards. This is why even regular cab fullsizers are going away as well. The bigger the vehicle, the less stringent the requirement it has to meet. This is why all the small pickups that did exist, either no longer exist or have become bloated versions of their former selves such as the tacoma and the Colorado/canyon(was the S10/sonoma/jimmy). All the while the Dakota and ranger have ceased to exist. The ranger does exist in Australia so I’m told, but it is nothing like it was. CAFE encourages model bloating. We will never see a Honda accord/civic like the 90s ones again, nor will we see a midsize pickup as they were with these regs in place, perhaps they will get repealed or at least partially lessened.
Retired Auto Tech