It's fun to have a small car.
(about 50 MPG)
Posted on 11/18/2009 12:24:56 AM PST by bruinbirdman
It's an economic contradiction to order the industry to build small cars but not encourage people to buy them.
The government is trying to push us into smaller, fuel-stingy vehicles. The plan is not working. Motorists don't seem excited by the small cars out there. They'll sit on their hands rather than buy. The end result is not so much fuel efficiency as depressed sales of new cars.
The top seller in the American market is still the big Ford f-150 pickup. Then comes the family-size car, the Toyota ( TM - news - people ) Camry, then the big Chevy Silverado pickup, then the family sedan Honda ( HMC - news - people ) Accord.
Honda's Insight, the smallest hybrid, has sold only 16,000 cars through September, maybe half what was expected. Sales of Toyota's Yaris, no hybrid but Toyota's smallest car here, are down 40% from last year. Chevy's Aveo, its small Korean-made car, is down 30%, and Hyundai's smallest, the Accent, is off 40%. The VW New Beetle is down 50%, and the Scion 1c is down 60%. Sales of all cars and trucks this year (through September) are down 27%.
To be sure, sales of big vehicles (pickups, SUVs, vans and large luxury cars) are also down sharply, and the smallest cars never sold that well here, anyway. But it is still worth noting what is selling well despite the general downturn: smaller crossover SUVs like the Honda CR-V and Pilot; the Toyota RAV 4 and Venza; the Ford Escape; the Chevy Equinox; and the Dodge Journey. Sales of this group are down only 10% for the year. The category even includes models from Saturn and Pontiac that have been discontinued.
This doesn't mean Americans don't want fuel economy; it may mean that vehicles that were
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
I mostly hated mine. I had no problem with performance but the seats were the most uncomfortable seats I have ever sat in.
Colin Chapman built nice cars too.
It's, er...kinda small.
Versa. Built in Mexico.
Great!
/s
I miss driving around to find Sunoco 260 for 29¢ versus 32¢ per gallon when it was worth it to do so! (and getting steak knives or dishes with a fill up -- $5)
We had seven children. We spend time with many large families. We have had many discussions about social engineering, and yes, how car design is meant to discourage young couples from planning large families.
We would need two or three of those tiny cars for our children and grandchildren.
I’m not a Ford man (not since the late 80s), but on our next furlough in the States, I may have to look at a F-150, put a shell over the bed, insulate it somehow, and install regular bench seats in the bed.
Most minivans (are they still selling them?), have engine sizes much too small for me. I liked my GMC Safaris; owned three and had good service out of that 6-cyl. They stopped producing it I understand.
My other option is to buy some kind of light commercial service vehicle and customize it.
“...big Ford F-150 pickup.”?
When was ANY 1/2 ton pickup considered “big”?
Big is 1 ton and up (like my Dodge 4500 ... all 11,000 lbs of it).
“I’m not a Ford man (not since the late 80s), but on our next furlough in the States, I may have to look at a F-150, put a shell over the bed, insulate it somehow, and install regular bench seats in the bed.”
They already sell that. It’s called a Ford Expedition.
Yup, but by Japanese robots and not a lot of Mexicans.
Other thing is, Toyota’s quality has been slipping quite a lot of late.
I suppose it is wrong and makes me a bad person, but I drive an Expedition, and I LOVE it.
It’s an 87 Series III with more than a few upgrades. Okay, a LOT of upgrades. Most of the classic problems with the design have been eliminated. :D
Might want to get another head on that 82 - there’s a lot of upgrades available now that really make the old car come to life.
Great episode. Surprised it hasn’t made an appearance in a dilbert strip. Always love TG and the guys.
CAFE constraints have taken their toll on vehicle overhang and ergo wieght at the cost of cargo space for packing it up for a vacation.
So then you put a luggage container on the roof and ruin the "aero".
The bottom line was the Mini-Van/SUV had room for real sized people and stuff you need to go places and exercise your liberty.
Obama doesn't want you to do that, you have to take the train to the Union Retreat Facility if he had his way....
BTW if they had their way the Watermelons would have us all driving mid 80's ish Golf/Jetta Diesels. Not enough room for a real family, they don't get that and never will....
The bottom line is this:
Small cars are not desired by Americans.
IF this was still a free market, the company that would focus on driving up fuel efficiency of SUVs, Crossovers and Trucks will be a long-run winner of profit.
You can get 28-30mpg out of it. You may want to get another head (about $800 for a remanufactured one ready to install) and put it away for later; good ones are getting hard to find.
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