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Despite being a minority of them, you probably picture a sedan when someone says "car" (programming.dev)
submitted 4 months ago by to c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world
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I counted cars at a stop light and everything was a crossover, SUV, or pickup truck. Closest thing to a sedan was a Corolla, which is now a hatchback!

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[–] 66 points 4 months ago (11 children)

I'm guessing this is from the US perspective, since that's not at all the European experience.

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

    I think that's likely; I am American and what I think of when I think "car" is basically the Ford Taurus. It was hugely popular when I first got to car-driving age, and I think it sort of became the reference for "basic car" for a generation. Not sure how well that generalizes to the under 40 crowd.

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

    I still think of a Ford Mondeo, but the most common vehicles in Europe are more likely the Ford Fiesta, VW Golf, Renault Clio, Peugeot 208, Fiat Panda etc.

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  • [–] 4 points 4 months ago (3 children)

    I love how Euros think they avoided SUVs 🤣

    The difference in sales was like 15 points iirc.

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

    I don't think you are aware of the huge difference in size between massive US SUVs and the models sold in the rest of the world.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago

    The biggest US market SUVs are huge, yes, but the SUV market as a whole is skewed heavily towards small SUV "crossovers," basically as a replacement for sedans that are disappearing (probably due to a complex set of fuel efficiency regulations that perversely incentivize making bigger vehicles to get away with less fuel efficiency).

    Our most popular models are the Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, Chevy Equinox, Tesla Model Y, and Chevy Trax. 4 out of the 5 are smaller and lighter than, say, a BMW X3, and the Model Y (which is also a somewhat popular model in Europe) is about the same size as the BMW. So if X3s and Model Ys are representative of the typical SUV in Europe, then the most popular American SUVs are smaller.

    Even driving up next to our most popular sedan, the Toyota Camry, shows that these crossover SUVs aren't actually longer or even taller at the highest point, just tend to be taller in the back to have a rear tailgate instead of a separate trunk compartment.

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