It may have grown during covid, but higher-trims were available well before covid. What used to be a 'nugget' in the aisle of a higher-trim is now just gone, no doubt. I know that I place a lower weight to some vehicle features than others do, but I wonder if the increase in base/fleet* is at least partially attributable to higher-contenting in those lower models. It seems that almost everything now has CarPlay/AA, auto a/c, auto lights, proximity entry, etc. (I attempted to phrase that carefully. Whether content is a consideration, I have zero doubt that pushing average vehicle cost down is at the least the largest driver.)

*I'm always hesitant to use base model in these discussions, because in some vehicles, EHI doesn't buy the actual base model, but usually the lowest spec of the next model up. Regardless of the nomenclature or brand definitions, we can all agree they're barebones when compared to the higher levels.