USA people reject small cars?

[jeffmorris]

Why do people living in USA buy huge pickup trucks and SUVs instead of regular cars? The smallest car available in USA is Smart fortwo. Ford and Chrysler (I think) are planning to discontinue most of regular cars.

[Chris V]

We live in a country that is very large, wide open, with wide streets and roads, and cheap gas. We have very little need for small cars, neither to save on gas or save on space. We also are not taxed on displacement or physical size, so we are not penalized for driving larger cars and trucks.

[jeffmorris]

I found out that GM is planning to lay off 14,000 workers, close 5 assembly plants, and discontinue most Chevy cars. What if Toyota, Nissan, Honda, and other companies stop selling regular cars in USA?

[Stealthee]

They won't because those cars still sell, and sell well. GM makes a not so great product, especially when it comes to cars and they are seeing their sales fall because of it.

[jeffmorris]

I watched "Diesel Brothers" TV shows about a group of men converting pickup trucks into "monster" trucks with 6-door cabs, axles from military trucks, jacked up suspensions, and huge tires. Their diesel engines generate black smoke. Ford and IHC made pickup trucks using cabs and chassis made for medium-duty or heavy-duty jobs.

[Stealthee]

Originally Posted by jeffmorris

I watched "Diesel Brothers" TV shows about a group of men converting pickup trucks into "monster" trucks with 6-door cabs, axles from military trucks, jacked up suspensions, and huge tires. Their diesel engines generate black smoke. Ford and IHC made pickup trucks using cabs and chassis made for medium-duty or heavy-duty jobs.

Your point?

[jeffmorris]

I wish that USA people buy sensible cars instead of huge trucks that drink gasoline or diesel fuel like alcoholics, take up too much space on city streets, cost too much money for maintenance and insurance, and cause traffic jams that make people late for work, school, and appointments. If everyone drive very small cars like Smart Fortwo to work and school, there would be less traffic jams, more parking spaces, and less road rage.

[Stealthee]

Your post makes zero sense.

What does the cost of maintenance and insurance have to do with anything?

What does the size of the vehicle have to do with traffic jams? India is full of small cars and has terrible traffic.

What does road rage have to do with large vehicles?

I'm not sure where you're from but here in the US we have this thing called freedom. That allows us to spend our money how we want on what we want. Your opinion of "large cars" is moot and you're not going to change anyone's mind. That should be especially obvious since you made almost exactly the same post 15 years ago.

[Dave B.]

Stealthee hit the bullseye of this issue when he/she pointed out that citizens of the U.S. are free to make their own decisions about virtually everything. If your vision of life here is based on reality television, you're not even close to understanding the U.S. mindset. The fact is that the 'average' American has quite a bit of disposable income, or at least credit. We buy big pickup trucks and SUVs because we often do things that require us to haul several people and considerable cargo at the same time. We also love things that are associated with trailers - and to pull a big trailer over long distances at relatively high speeds, you really need a large tow vehicle with plenty of power. Try pulling an 8-meter trailer that holds 4 horses and all the gear and food you need for a weekend's riding with a Honda - it's NOT happening.


Another point is that a sizeable (no pun intended) portion of the people here are large in stature. My wife and I like small, economical cars and both have Ford Focuses as daily-drivers. Her best friend can't even get into the passenger seat of either car and close the door. Is that unhealthy? Well, yes - she should lose weight, but she's free to make that decision on her own. If my wife wants to go somewhere and take her friend, she drives my full-size 4WD Chevy pickup. Is this a waste of resources? It depends on what's important to you. In this case, sharing a good time with her friend is what's important to my wife.


As to road rage, our news programs tend to sensationalize almost everything. I drive thousands of miles each year and very, very rarely see real incidents of road rage. I do see people do dumb things, but 95% of the other drivers on the road are focused enough to be on the lookout for careless twits. Yeah, we have accidents, but the actual number of accidents per mile driven is pretty low. In fact, some of my European friends who have visited here have commented on how infrequently you hear horns blow in America. Stealthee is also correct about traffic jams and maintenance - and - as hard as it may be to believe, some insurance companies give the biggest discounts to the largest vehicles because their occupants tend to have less severe injuries when they're involved in accidents.


In short, "you had to be there" or - in this case - here.

[brcidd]

In an accident 5000 lbs usually wins over 2000 lbs...simple as that.