Annoyingly, many vehicles sold in the U.S. don’t have a tow rating except for large SUV’s and trucks. It makes it difficult to know if you can safely tow a trailer with your small crossover.
I owned a Honda HR-V a few years ago. In Europe, it was rated for around 1,500 lbs. In the U.S., they just slap “not recommended for towing” on it and tell you to buy something larger.
Europe licenses trucks and trailers differently than in the U.S. An American one-ton pickup can tow at a combined weight of up to 26,000lbs in most states on a standard Class D license. The same license you need to operate a Honda Civic. This weight would require a commercial license in Europe, raising the bar for entry.
The lengths of trucks and trailers is also regulated more heavily due to smaller European streets. A vehicle rated to tow a 26,000lb load in Europe would need to be much shorter in length to abide by these regulations. This is why you only see “cab-over” style “lorries” in Europe.
What follows is my opinion on some additional factors:
It’s more affordable for Europeans to hire a professional driver for heavy loads owing to the short distances between destinations. It’s also less likely that your average European owns land or has a need to haul a heavy load to maintain said property.
I’ve owned a lot of different vehicles over the years.
1998 Ford Taurus, 2002 Ford Mustang, 2012 Honda Civic Coupe, 2016 Honda HRV, 2017 Yamaha FZ-09, 2019 Mazda MX-5 Miata, …and finally… 2023 Ford F-150 Tremor
My two favorite vehicles out of that list are the Miata and the F-150. I’ve lived both lives and they’re not comparable.
The Miata was a blast to take out into the country and find a series of twisty corners while banging through gears with the top down. I do miss having the wind in my hair and no particular destination in mind.
The F-150 is great because I’m building a house and need to haul loads of lumber and plywood. It’s also fantastic because I can take it off road and camp in the bed on vacation, getting to places the Miata could never go. It’s also pretty fun to drive with a lot of power.
Admittedly, when you get spirited with the pedal, you can hear the echos and screams of dinosaurs as their remains are incinerated expeditiously by the twin-turbo V6. Not the most environmentally conscious thing I’ve owned, but I disagree that trucks aren’t fun.
They have Bison. Went there a few weeks ago. Pretty cool park!
Many of us who live in the U.S. feel the same way.