Re: [comment] VWoA...WTF?

[16v Jason <jason@scirocco.org>]

At 12:38 AM 12/15/00 , Dan Brideau wrote:
> > Plus, there are other reasons we don't have a
> > Lupo, Audi A2 or A3, Mercedes A-Class, Rover
> > MGF, etc etc.  Even if we could get tiny cars
> > like that to pass our crash tests,
> > who would want them?
>
>
>Same folks who scrape to buy Hyundai or Yugo..
>poor people, lower class, working stiffs.  I hate
>it when government uses its power to force me to
>adopt someone else's standard for safety.
>Conforming to crash tests is a perfect example of
>bureaucratic waste that fucks over the poor.
>
>Tiny cars are cheap.

A ha! You hit the nail perfectly on the head.

In the *States*, tiny cars are cheap.  In Europe, they aren't 
necessarily.  The US is a car market that has no real size-constraints -- 
so we generally assume that the bigger the car, the more expensive it will 
be.  That isn't necessarily the case in Europe.  I mean, think about it 
just for a second -- the Golf isn't exactly a cheap car for its 
size.  Actually, it's an outrageous price if you consider its size -- and 
that's the reason it doesn't sell well here.  For the price of a loaded 
Golf, you can get a completely decked-out Cirrus -- which is considerably 
larger.  Or a topped-out Malibu, or a nicely equipped Intrepid!

Same goes for the rest of the German marques -- a 3-series and a C-Class 
are only slightly bigger than a Civic or Corolla -- and yet they're twice 
the price.  And why not -- I mean, Americans with cheap gas and lots of 
space want big big big -- why have a subcompact for $25,000 when you can 
have a mid-size for the same price?

Polos and Lupos really aren't that cheap.  Yeah, of course, with a 1.0 
liter 4, they're $10,000 -- but equipped the way that people (i.e. most 
people) would want them in the states, they're closer to the prices of a 
Civic or Corolla-- the current horrendous exchange rates 
notwithstanding.  Which brings us back to the mentality that bigger is 
better and why have a microcompact like a Polo for $18,000 when you can 
have a mid-size Cirrus?

I agree with you totally, but the market just isn't there.  People here 
don't want to spend lots of money for little cars.  If they did, we'd see 
the same small cars as exist in Europe- - but there's a reason they exist 
there.  Someone making decent money who wants a comfortable, 
well-performing car over there might consider a Polo with leather, climate 
control, sunroof, i.e. all the goodies, rather than buying a bigger car 
because (a) their taxes (i.e. registration) is NOT cheap and is based on CC 
displacement, (b) their gas is 4x the price of ours, (c) the roads are 
considerably smaller, (d) insurance is higher, and (e) it's tough to fit a 
mid-size car (i.e. Audi A4) into some parking lots.

Big cars are completely impractical in Germany.  We had an Audi 90 20V and 
a Opel Kadett GSi when I lived over there.  My parents fought over the Opel 
even though it was clearly the lesser car, just because there were some 
parking lots and spaces that it just didn't fit in.  It was a pain in the 
ass, period.  I can't imagine living with an S-Class sized car in 
Germany.  By doing so, you're going out of your way to make life miserable 
for yourself.

We don't have that problem here until you reach Excursion-sized.  The 
3-series is a mid-size car over there, and it's (barely) considered a 
"compact" here.  The 5-series is a big car there, it's piddly here.... it's 
only slightly bigger than a Camry.

So it's only natural that there's no market for small, expensive cars.  VW 
has learned that and concentrated their efforts on larger cars for the US 
-- namely the Passat, the Audi cars, and the forthcoming S-Class competitor.

Jason




----------
1987 Scirocco 16v
1988 Mercedes 190E Sport Euro


http://www.scirocco16v.org


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