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[–] 93 points 10 months ago* (29 children)

Everyone I know has been begging for smaller cars for years. Idk why everyone thinks people don't want them. No one said they didn't want them it was just decided for us by some CEOs. That seems to be how all of the opinions of "Americans" are formed. Same way the CEO of my company says we all love to go into an empty office and do all of our work online. It's just bullshit

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  • [–] 58 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    Not just CEOs. Tax and emissions law in the US discourages smaller vehicles and encourages personal vehicles large enough to qualify as "light trucks". https://publications.lawschool.cornell.edu/jlpp/2024/11/25/the-unchecked-rise-of-trucks-and-suvs-in-america/

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  • [–] 13 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    I bring this up every time people talk about vehicle sizes and people always treat me like a conspiracy theorist.

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  • [–] 4 points 10 months ago

    You're 100% right tho. It just means other people aren't interested in the truth. I used to be ignorant too until someone made that comment and i looked into it a little. Between emissions and safety standards we really push the prices of vehicles up ourselves with all the rules we've put in place.

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  • [–] 24 points 10 months ago (22 children)

    I think the thing is when they do make them, they’re a shitty American car and nobody wants that so the Detroit execs blame us and go back to making luxury tanks for the wine moms.

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  • [–] 34 points 10 months ago (16 children)

    I think the REAL issue is that when they sell those little cars people do buy them, but they are people who would have bought a larger more expensive car if that little car wasn't available.

    We have a little Honda fit. Great car. Also a pretty popular car that you see on the road all the damned time. Honda still sells the car globally, but they stopped selling it in the US. Not because it wasn't selling, but because it was selling to people that would have bought HRVs or Civics (which cost more) instead.

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  • [–] 4 points 10 months ago (5 children)

    That not true, the Fit started off strong at 80,000/yr sales but by 2020 hit 30,000/yr. Everyone is driving pickups now.

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  • [–] 10 points 10 months ago* (4 children)

    Best selling cars of 2024:

    Ford F-Series: 732,139
    
    Chevrolet Silverado: 542,517
    
    Toyota RAV4: 475,193
    
    Tesla Model Y: 405,900
    
    Honda CR-V: 402,791
    
    Ram Pickup: 373,120
    
    GMC Sierra: 340,946
    
    Toyota Camry: 309,876
    
    Nissan Rogue: 245,724
    
    Honda Civic: 242,005
    
    Toyota Corolla: 232,908
    
    Jeep Grand Cherokee: 216,148
    
    Chevrolet Equinox: 207,730
    
    Hyundai Tucson: 206,126
    
    Chevrolet Trax: 200,689
    
    Ford Explorer: 194,094
    
    Toyota Tacoma: 192,813
    
    Subaru Crosstrek: 181,811
    
    Subaru Forester: 175,521
    
    Toyota Highlander: 169,543
    
    Honda Accord: 162,723
    
    Kia Sportage: 161,917
    
    Subaru Outback: 161,814
    
    Toyota Tundra: 159,528
    
    Nissan Sentra: 152,659
    

    https://www.caranddriver.com/news/g60385784/bestselling-cars-2024/

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  • [–] 6 points 10 months ago* (2 children)

    Yeah. I want to blame car company executives and do when I’m cranky but ultimately much of this is a problem with drivers. People want big, pedestrian-slaughtering, gas-guzzling planet-killers and as long as we allow don’t take a more aggressive regulatory approach to SUVs and bloated pavement princess pickups it’s going to stay bad.

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  • [–] 4 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    rare point of view here... that people are responsible for themselves and not everything is some psyop conspiracy wherein people have no agency.

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  • [–] 6 points 10 months ago

    I do still think corporate decision makers bear a portion of the blame. They’d rather make big cars, too, and are doing nothing to use their advertising to help shape consumer demand to be in favor of smaller cars or promote fuel economy. Individual demand exists and people bear responsibility, but it doesn’t exist in a vacuum.

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  • [–] 0 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (9 children)

    The fit isn't a great car for highway driving. Yeah, they are popular for city drivers would also into mini coopers and SMART cars. There are plenty of 'little cars' on the market, but people don't genreally like them because they are impactical and sucky to drive compared to compact suvs and sedans, that are more or less the same price and offer a way more comfortable experience.

    after you go over 65mph it feels like the wheels will fall off, and it's low weight and box frame makes it blow around like a leaf in any substantial winds. I chose a civic because it was so much safer and more comfortable for highway driving at 70mph+. it is a much stiffer chasis, my civic can hit 110mph before it starts to feel sketchy.

    Civic and HRV and CRV are way more stable and comfortable vehicles and get the same mileage, and have more storage space.

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  • [–] 9 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    A modern Mini Cooper is nothing like a Smart car. It's comparable in size to a Golf, or a Corolla hatch.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago* (1 child)

    which model? the countryman is bigger, but the basic one is still barely a 4 seater. the 2 door is tiny.

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  • [–] 5 points 10 months ago*

    The normal Cooper.

    The 4 door Cooper is the same width as the 2 door, 1cm taller, and 16cm longer, based on a 2013-2018 model since that's what this tool has available:

    https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/mini-cooper-2013-3-door-hatchback-vs-mini-cooper-2013-5-door-hatchback/

    Compare a 2 door Cooper vs 2 door Golf and it's barely different:

    https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/mini-cooper-2013-3-door-hatchback-vs-volkswagen-golf-2012-3-door-hatchback

    Or 2 door Cooper vs Smart Fortwo:

    https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/smart-fortwo-2014-3-door-hatchback-vs-mini-cooper-2013-3-door-hatchback/

    The Smart is clearly a smaller size. The Cooper and the Golf are basically the same. There's definitely a lot more cross shopping of Coopers and Golfs than Coopers and Smarts.

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  • [–] 6 points 10 months ago (4 children)

    The 40mpg highway mileage that the Fit gets tells me that you have different priorities than I do on the highway.

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  • [–] 4 points 10 months ago* (2 children)

    I've also never experienced the "wheels wanting to fall off" bullshit or the wind buffeting it personally.

    The only thing I don't like about highway driving is the revs get higher when you go fast.

    Which AFAIK is because the fit is geared more towards lower speed driving, but honestly it is not a problem.

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  • [–] 7 points 10 months ago (4 children)

    nobody wants that so the Detroit execs blame us and go back to making luxury tanks for the wine moms.

    Exactly why Stellantis is selling this in the USA in 2026:

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