> Is your point that taller trucks and SUVs provide considerable benefits over shorter ones? What are those benefits?

Ground clearance. In some parts of the US and for some use cases this is non-negotiable. It would be like buying a car in Texas without an air conditioner. There is a Japanese automaker (Subaru) that traditionally caters to this market almost exclusively in the US.

I won't buy a vehicle with less than 8 inches of ground clearance for safety reasons.