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In the absence of a flair system on lemmy yet, let’s try to make it easier to scan through posts by type in here by using tags:
This internet ad states "on a 65 year journey, together. It's time to celebrate" and the added line states "with a deceive"
The same ad below shows the real proportion of the 2 cars
crossposted from: https://mastodon.uno/users/rivoluzioneurbanamobilita/statuses/113117293560455785
They're honestly minuscule, even compared to a Honda Fit...
I see people complaining about the death of small cars and yet Canada, which is 10% of the US market, was buying enough of them that manufacturers kept selling them even when they were discontinued in the US... So maybe people just weren't buying them in the US even when they were offered, right?
Stop this bs line that it's all the consumers fault
20 years ago I wanted a diesel car but they ALL came with leather seats and Bosse crap I didn't want to pay for nor could afford
20 years later the history repeats with electric cars
I guess I'm too poor to vote with my wallet, it's all my fault
Can’t upvote this enough. It’s not the consumers, it’s the dealers calling the shots. Some examples:
Looking for a Corolla hybrid: no dealer had one, and all of them said it could be 18 months or more before one would be available
Looking for a RAV4 suv: we have 8 on the lot take your pick
Looking for a Mazda 3 hatchback: the only one in the colour you want is a six hour drive away and no we can’t transfer it here
Looking for a CX5 suv: we have literally a million of them
In both examples the cars cost almost the same amount to build. They have the same drivetrain, engine, transmission, etc. But since the “suv” or “crossover” is taller and bigger they can charge 20-30% more, earning them more commission and dealer fees, so that’s what they order from the manufacturer. Unless you have months to wait, you take what you get.
Again, a much smaller market where all cars need to be imported was still getting them (including base model diesels) while they weren't available in the USA. If people don't buy them new then why do they expect manufacturers to keep offering them?
Hell, Quebec, a single province, kept getting the Toyota Echo (IIRC) longer than the rest of Canada because so many were sold there and it's not the only time this has happened, they buy hatchbacks and station wagons, they're getting models not available in the rest of Canada and the US. It's a market of 8 millions in a sea of 370 millions!
Ok so if you live in USA (or like me, in Canada)... WTF do I do if the car I want is offered in "a much smaller market" I have no access to?
I live here and I do buy hatchbacks... my first car was a VW Golf here, not the Diesel edition because of what I mentioned before (not having the money or willingness to pay for leather seats and Bosse crap)... after having kids we wanted a Honda Element, just to find out Honda made them bigger than the Toyota Highlanders... now I have a Prius V and, drumroll, Toyota discontinued it in favour if the Rav4 hybrid which has again ballooned in size since the Rav-4 came out. If I wanted to buy a hatchback from Toyota today, I think I have access to the ICE GR Corolla (used to be CH-R?) which is a "supped up" hatchback starting at $50K CAD! or a smaller Corolla hatchback (2 years current wait) for $27. Everything else they offer is in the large SUV category
That's when you take your business to the manufacturers who offer what you want. Mazda, Kia, Hyundai...
Yes it ended up affecting Canada in the end, especially with the pandemic reducing car production all over the world, but it still shows that if Americans had truly wanted small cars they would have bought it and they would still be offered, but the truth is that the vast majority of people who say they want small cars won't buy them new and by the time they're ready to buy a new car they have a family or are thinking about it and now they want a bigger car.
Mazda maybe... Kia and Hyundai, although they have indeed improved in reliability, continue to be the bottom of the tier for cars... and then, by your logic, I would be supporting cheaply made cars that are super easy to steal... it's what the market wants!
AFAIK, none of the smaller European cars (Fiat, Peugeot, Seat) are offered in the Americas out of protection for Ford, Chev and Chrysler... nothing about demand not being there for more options in smaller categories
Fiat still has the 500 in EV version but was still selling the gas 500 not too long ago, Chevy has the Bolt, there's a bunch of small CUVs as well...
European cars that aren't offered here are not imported mostly out of protectionism for North American jobs, European manufacturers could sell their cars here if they were willing to deal with the tariffs or build factories on our side of the pond...
so I guess we agree there are barely any options for someone who actually wants a small car and, as such, buying a larger-than-I-want car should not be construed as a mandate for ever larger vehicles?!
...i bought a mazda 2 ten years ago and it was fantastically practical, agile, efficient, and affordable; came time for a new car and they'd replaced it with a f*cking SUV...
Yeah instead of an arms race it's a weight race