Heavy snow is very rarely a problem for drivers in the UK, which is probably why gritting machines feel like they’re in such short supply whenever a few inches of the white stuff appears.
When there’s significant snowfall, transport disruption almost always follows, and when your travel is essential it’d be handy to have a vehicle that’s up to the task.
As it happens, some car manufacturers have put a lot of thought into what their vehicles would look like if they were built to survive in the harshest winter conditions. Some of their ideas never went further than concept stage, though a few designs actually made it to the real world.