Everyone is broke as fuck we are open to cheap everything. People are living in literal sheds
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Yes I think that's the part where you have to, you know, compete or whatever.
“We hear you, American consumer! You say you want a sub-$40k, small, basic EV. So here’s another luxury SUV/pickup truck/yacht crossover starting at $90,000.”
They’ll just ban them from being imported. Far cheaper to pay off some politicians than it is to compete or whatever. Kinda like the tariffs on the solar panels ‘flooding the market’ they just announced.
You have to be capitalistic, no not like that!
Don't cram touchscreens and smart features into every fucking aspect of your car. Keep your costs low, keep prices low, and believe it or not, you'll tap into the "bottom" 60% of the market that has been forced to buy used for the last 10 years. I don't want a base trim 10 year old Honda Accord with 150k miles, but it's all I can find for under $20k.
Touchscreens and "smart" features don't add enough cost to justify the premium you pay for them.
This. Removing the $200 Android tablet from the dash isn't going to make cars suddenly $5,000 cheaper.
I keep getting shit on for wanting an EV with manual roll-up windows where you have to use your hands, a super basic FM stereo kit, and a dash clock being the most advanced shit inside. I don't need rear-view cameras and sensors and other shit that complicates and increases repair and insurance costs. I don't get it. Give me dead simple, please and thank you.
Back up cameras are mandatory in the US, and apparently Automatic Emergency Braking will be mandatory starting in 2029, so you'll be stuck with some sensors whether you like it or not.
But otherwise I agree that buttons and dials are better for controlling AC and radio than a touchscreen ever will be.
Yeesh. I'm still driving a vehicle from 1999. Guess I'm out of the loop on the backup camera thing.
Backup cameras are useless for many people. I can either wear glasses so that I can see where I’m driving, or I can take them off to see the fisheyed backup screen. Not both.
Touch screens in cars are a massive safety issue. I'm not saying they don't have some benefits but the fact that many newer cars have basically no physical buttons to perform basic functions is a problem. I can feel for the dial to adjust the volume or change the radio station. But a touch screen encourages the driver to take their focus off the road. That's a serious problem.
Maybe make affordable cars here then?? Dumbasses
The industry should meet the needs of the consumer, not the shareholder.
But that's not the American way
I mean fuck, if only we could get shit like kei trucks.
Some of us have been open to foreign vehicles you can't really get in the US for a long time. Oh well.
The massive size of vehicles in the U.S. is ridiculous. I think a lot of people would buy smaller, cheaper cars if they were on the market.
The EPA makes really tight emissions targets for vehicles under a certain size or the auto makers have to pay a fee iirc. Pretty sure they the medium sized stuff out of existance, an unfortunately I'm guessing the same fees would apply to imports too.
I think folks bought into SUVs since they were bigger & selfishly less likely to take more damage in a crash. As such, with SUV tanks everywhere, being a pedestrian or in a small car on the road on in an SUV’s trajectory can often lead to lethal injury.
Absolutely. So many sensible sized European cars aren’t sold in the US because bullshit market research says small car bad big truck good.
But the European market is also pushing bigger cars and SUV.
The smart is now a 4 meters SUV
The Volkswagen up (small 4 person car) is out of production and they're selling nothing under 4 meters
The fiat panda (another small 4 person car) is in the process of being redesigned and the mockups look like a huge range rover SUV
Skoda, after retiring the citigo, has the Fabia that's relatively small (almost 4 meters) and the rest are huge
Most automakers are giving up on the cheap and small compact car segment, leaving a big gap for Chinese automakers
Auto industry looking at their overly inflated prices, "well well well, if it isn't the consequences of my actions."
Well too fucking bad for the auto industry? Just because it’s an American industry doesn’t mean we should give a fuck about it. If they want our loyalty, make fucking better cars.
If they want our loyalty, make fucking better cars
I mean, in the spirit of the post, make fucking cheaper cars
Cars have been getting expensive AF
80s: You wouldn't buy a Japanese car!
90s: you wouldn't buy a Korean car!
00s: you wouldn't buy a small Italian car!
....
I'd still never buy an Italian car of any size. Not then and not now.
There's all kinds of wacky taxes, regulations, and barriers to prevent the US industry from having to compete with the world. One such example is the Chicken Tax:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/chicken-tax.asp
That one keeps the Toyota Hilux out of the US.
Toyota Hilux: the middle-east terrorist's truck of choice.
But seriously, those things are everywhere in the Middle East and Africa.
I guess you need a cheap, reliable, relatively high performance truck with good off-road capabilities with a large bed to mount weaponry on.
What else would they use?
Half your fleet experiencing engine failure around 110,000 miles really puts a wrinkle in the jihad so I guess that rules out Chevrolet.
Not scary for the auto workers who want to work on them, build them, supply parts for them, etc or the families who want affordable EVs. More scary for the wealth class who didn't reinvest enough into updating their facilities and processes to stay competitive businesses. The government already gave them extra time with the embargo but that isn't going to last forever.
Yeah, I'm a weirdo with a cargo e-bike. Love it, except when it rains or snows.
I'd love a sub-$20k street legal EV that skips the entertainment system and most other features. Just give me a weatherproof cabin with comfortable seats and a modest cargo capacity for groceries and small appliances. I'm only ever going to drive it for at most an hour around town and back. Maybe listen to a podcast from my phone. Stick solar panels on the roof and it'll probably always be topped off for how infrequently I drive. I'll rent something if I take a longer trip.
If it pass safety standards without all those smart and data collection bs and being reliable for 7+ years with easy part sourcing I might give it a try.
What's their e-bike situation like? Are there good ones or will they blow my nuts off?
Even Xiaomi has released the SU7, a real Tesla killer and also way cheaper. But not for the US market, but for the EU.
I personally own Ioniq 5 but that is because Hyundai has better after sales support in my country than emerging Chinese OEMs.
Not to mention existing Chinese cars currently do not possess enough battery capacity and efficiency for my taste.
Once they fix that atrocious after sales support, I will reconsider them.
FYI, Wuling Air EV probably has the 2nd biggest sales number here in my country but people who own them complain alot about maintenance and spare part supplies.