And if this thread confirms anything, it's that the British car-buying public aspire towards bigger, more comfortable cars. Which explains why it's so difficult to find anywhere to park these days which doesn't carry the threat of somebody opening their door into the side of my normal-sized Golf!
Worth noting though that our normal sized Golf's aren't so normal sized anymore. Mine barely fits in my normal sized garage. These days if you want a normal sized Golf it's called a Polo. The parking problem isn't simply because of bigger and more comfortable cars, it's also a consequence of more cars on the road, combined with parking space dimensions that haven't increased in decades, people taking up two spaces when they could fit in one, and others making car journeys they don't really need to make by car.
My point is that the average UK buyer (and they can be very average indeed) is easily swayed by fashion, and smallish lower-end SUV's such as the Cashcow are sold as accessories to an active, aspirational lifestyle, often advertised in the company of other stereotypical lifestyle accessories such as mountain bikes, kayaks etc. They offer a higher than usual driving position to enable the lucky owner to look down upon the proletariat, and comfy seats. So the buyer feels comfortable, and is able to feel protected due to the perceived solidity of the car thanks to chunky styling with large lumpy plastic bumpers at each end and the high driving position.
They also have high-profile tyres and chunky wheels. Ideal for parking with two wheels on the pavement, which is the closest that most pseudo lifestyle SUV's will ever get to driving offroad.
Why let these things bother you? Are they doing you that much harm? At the end of the day they're just another vehicle on the road. They pay their road tax, they buy their fuel and insurance and have just as much right to be there as the rest of us. Thoughtless driving and parking on kerbs is an issue, but that's not exclusive to SUV drivers.
I can't think of many cars which have been updated regularly throughout their lifespan which haven't mutated into larger versions of their previous selves. Mazda made a praiseworthy job of updating the MX-5 and producing a newer model which actually weighed less than its predecessor, but in the world of VW the Golf has swollen considerably, as has the Polo, which is now larger than the original Golf, and I expect the Mark 2 Up! to be bigger, heavier, and better furnished than the existing model. It just seems to be a fact of life in the automotive industry's never-ending struggle to satisfy ever more prescriptive legislation while still pandering to the whims of the buying public.
And we still have parking spaces designed to accommodate Ford Anglias. Which are now occupied by the obese grandchildren of their intended occupants, which all seem to be driven by inconsiderates with no concern for their fellow drivers. I'm convinced that all pseudo SUV's come with "An overblown sense of entitlement" as a standard fitting.
