L’estinzione silenziosa di piccole auto in Europa

Funny story, the state of US cars is also a consequence of regulations: the switch to trucks was a way to dodge these regulations initially and then they just became the norm.

It reminds me of some classic Mr Bean style cars. I personally don’t like those round googly eyed lights. But there is certain appeal to it

Cos it’s all expensive and people prefer larger cars for safety reasons 

I haven’t noticed the trend on the street, but if it’s just fashion, it can reverse soon enough. Amsterdam is filled with the tiniest of ‘cars’ these days which are basically just 4 wheeled scooters. Demand for small cars in cities is definitely still there.

Starting to see more and more giant american-style cars on the streets of Budapest. Not a lot, but noticeable enough.

It’s the kind with the child-killer straight hood that you can’t properly see from, barely fitting in the lane, bulky designed.. hate them, so damn much.

Bigger cars being safer is one of those ´it depends´ things. Crash tests say little about real traffic, let alone drivers´ psychology. Too many people driving big cars ´because them big cars is safe´ only care about their own safety, cozy in their armored and padded luxury tanks. Their driving style is often… poor.

Cars are growing too much in all dimensions but especially width is becoming a problem, not just in parking spaces but also in narrow streets (and my driveway).

We have 2 cars. A 21 year old Opel Zafira A and an i year old Volvo XC60 T8. The latter is hands down a better car and safer as well because it´s loaded with safety options and just drives better. But it´s quite a bit wider and it doesn´t *really* need 400 hp. The next car to replace the ageing Zafira will be smaller like a Fiat 600 but even those have grown. When I compare my old Opel Astra G (width 1m70) with the current L (width 1m86) the increase is obvious. And that´s only a mid size car.

The easiest thing would be for the EU to limit the dimensions of new cars – Germany would protest loudly of course.

You have no space for cars in Europe and you dont want to produce small cars. Lol.

Counter point: suck then people had small cars because of ressources constraints.

Now many large cars don’t cost much than smaller ones.

Mostly highway use means air resistance and shape not size is what matters. My mothers small Fiat 500 was a gaz guzzler on highway, as much as our 520d bmw. Large electric car barely consume 10% more in highways than smaller ones while having what, 2-3x more interior volume?

Euro NCAP crash test is a scam because they stratify cars per weight, making users think a small 5 stars car is safe, when in fact it kills all passagers if it crashes with a 3 start larger car. My forensic medicine professor was saying he buys only the heaviest cars for his children(semi jockingly)

And many city centers have become pedestrian only, mooting the need for small car. People mostly drive in the suburbs now.

I do like the the European who LARPs American Dad. Makes me feel happy to know stupid is everywhere. Nothing like seeing a Raptor taking up half the street for no reason other than bragging rights to a bunch of imaginary friends of some weirdo wappie. There are plenty of things I will not apologize for as an American here… stupidly sized trucks is not one of them.  I am sorry. We failed you there big time. 

In the UK if u had a business like a trades man/woman, you get discounts in owning a van. The double cab pick up could be classed as a van. People were buying them and using them as a family car, baby seat in the back and parked in the supermarket. The gov closed that loophole this year finally.

I think VW is coming with ID1 which is supposedly small and relatively affordable when new. Let’s see if more brands will go back to entry-level and small city cars to tailor to those markets. Maybe they didn’t do that yet to first ramp up production capabilities and get enough economies of scale to make it worthwhile for the ones not willing to invest in expensive big SUVs.

That said, I also notice a few middle sized cars are SUVs more in form and name than its original actual purpose. They’re quite small, relatively.

[Fiat] Panda isn’t on the verge of extinction, yet.

I love K-cars in Japan. 

I really want a K-truck like a Jimney. But it’s classed as a van in this country because of emissions targets.