I think we do agree, it’s hard to tell sometimes haha. I base my view that they’re not needed by 99% of the population on the fact I see much less than 1% of them on our roads (thankfully) and everyone seems to be doing just fine.
I get it, they’re kind of a middle ground trying to do it all but it fails at doing so imo and in the process, creates dangerous and polluting vehicles, compounded by the fact they’re getting bought on whim or as social status but then never see the use they’re supposed to be made for, just terrible all around.
But indeed I don’t deny they can be good specialized vehicles, I just think these cases are <1% of the population like if you’re chasing bears in the arctic or something, and certainly trades people etc would generally not need them and be better served by alternatives.
I mean the whole rest of the world seems to manage just fine without these, and we have tradesmen as well? The cabins can be as clean or dirty as you need, I’ve seen everything, loading trash or debris is also fine. If you’re really carrying mostly gravel or other type of stuff like that then you’d have something specialized for that with a much bigger box than on your pickups, or rent it for the job.
But looking at your other comments in the thread I see that you’re just set in your ideas and just looking at finding justifications for niche cases where it might be a superior vehicle, which I don’t deny certainly exist, but that’s not the problem, the problem is these are a dime a dozen if not the majority on your roads, and they’re not at all good as normal vehicles whereas the vans are. Also they’re honestly just superior in pretty much every way, flat bottom, low load-in height, can accept pallets, stuff stays dry, locked, engines are efficient and not crazy oversize and gaz-guzzling, they have good viewing angles at the front (e.g. you would see a child in front of the vehicle), etc etc etc.
I use cameras for a living and basically never shoot anything for fun anymore (if anything I’m shooting for my portfolio if I’m not getting paid), because there’s just no joy in it anymore, but landscapes are the exception I’ll always feel happy with getting photos of footage of the beautiful places I visit.