Monsters of the Road: What Should the UK Do About SUVs?

My current situation and not based on the previous generation :) I know it's a genuine question, but it does strike me as odd we expect the current generation to be satisfied with the preferences of the previous.

Booster seat laws alone necessitate larger vehicles.

I have two kids and regularly pack our Honda CRV beyond the point that is possible with our Civic. The stroller alone is big, way bigger than the umbrella one from when I was a kid. The Civic seats with my two large booster seats which I'm legally required to use until the kids are like 8-10, can only fit 4 people despite two people being very small, and the CRV allows my to put my seat the way I like in most situations rather than having less leg room (6'3").

The civic gets about 10% better economy than the CRV and I don't think I'd

>when station wagons were a thing

Just some interesting context, the original SUVs were station wagons. The big Suburbans/Wagoneers/Broncos/Blazers of the 70s and 80s were classified as station wagons. In addition, many of the station wagons back in the day got horrible gas mileage (many had the same engine size as their SUV counterparts).

Beyond that, the idea that people would be choose to have multiple cars for different aspects is a bit out of touch. The majority of Americans can't spring for a $1k emergency repair, let alone have another car payment just for a grocery getter. Most people need one car that can do most everything they need. Even if they could afford more than one car, your premise doesn't make sense. How many miles would have to be driven for a $20k used car purchase to have a positive economics based on its fuel savings?