I drive a Sonata hybrid, my wife has a Toyota Matrix and my at-home son drives a Mazda 3. So three traditional cars in the driveway. No interest in getting a truck/van.
I drive a new-ish (2015) Honda Accord, so I’m still sticking with the boring old mid-size sedan segment.
My wife drives a Kia Soul. Whether that counts as a car or not is left as an exercise for the reader. Kia tries to claim that it’s a crossover, but I ain’t buying that.
I’ve decided (since I missed the 20-year-trade-in target I originally had) to drive my '98 Corolla to the moon (only 30K miles to go!), then trade it in on whatever electric Camry is available. Hopefully by then, station wagons will be back.
Depends on the model year. My sister has one of the older ones (barely in this millennium) and it squeaks and creaks like a wooden sailing ship because of some little plastic pieces in the suspension that fails very quickly, but do not affect the handling. It’s OK as a really small car.
I own a Ford Focus, which is a good size here in Europe. The mags say that 2007 was a bad year for that model, but it is the most reliable car I have ever had, better than my Audi 80. Next up is a C-Max, which is basically a Focus with more headroom and easier for the old folks to get in and out of.
SUVs are fairly popular in Europe, but I would guess that more than 90% of their owners don’t really need them. You really need to be somewhere remote to need an SUV, such as on a farm. Most of the roads are ploughed clear if it snows, so FWD and snow tires will get you through just about anywhere, although a few ski resorts specify chains in some areas.
But I guess that far more people live in remote places in the USA, so you need the ground clearance and 4WD helps a lot. If you don’t, you pay relatively more to buy an SUV and to run it.
Good point by a post somewhere near the beginning. Stand by for an Asian invasion all over again. I don’t know if the Indians will get in on the act, but Tata is one hell of a big company and the Indian market is huge, so they might do so. Probably in the low end segment, and there they will go head to head with the Chinese. Once the Chinese get up to speed producing cars to Western consumer standards, you’ll see them everywhere. And, as was said, the South Koreans will be the biggest losers. They tended to concentrate on the low end, so they can’t easily go up market, and they will have the Japanese and the Europeans (mainly the Germans) to contend with.
What will happen? A new round of consolidation of the makers, given that there are already too many fighting each other. Companies like Fiat and Opel could get swallowed up, and Japan might lose Daihatsu, Mazda and Suzuki, Mitsubishi would be out except that it is backed by the entire group. Nissan already got bought up, and the French essentially have one group with three badges. Chrysler and GM have had their troubles.
Curious that Russia has not managed to get into the car market for any length of time. For some years they held a place at the bottom end of the market - also bottom for reliability and quality, too.
My son inherited my 2008 Civic, my wife drives a 2000 4runner and I have a 2013 Volt. My wife works from home and I have 38 mile commute, so our gas use is minimal. My daughter will likely get the Volt and I plan on getting a cheap 2017 one this spring. Five years from now I expect to be in some type of fully electric vehicle.
A new Volt and a 2001 Ranger. I don’t need the truck often, but pickups can be very useful to a homeowner.
One factor is mileage. The Ranger (4 cyl) gets a terrible 15 mpg, usually, and maybe 22 on a longer highway drive at 45 mph. I’ve generally owned smaller and more nimble cars, sometimes with a fun larger engine (my former Mazda 6) but still getting better mileage and performance than a SUV.
Ford is on the verge of a major screw-up, though. Cars may not as profitable as the trucks and all, but getting new buyers into your vehicle is a large part of developing brand loyalty. And the manufacturers know this. Someone is looking at short term gains only.
I hope to never buy a vehicle made in the PRC. Japan and South Korea are allies, and make very good vehicles. I don’t see Mde in China beating that out with many US consumers- unless they sell the first ones at a loss to build market share.
Discontinued? I have heard nothing like that.
It was pretty big news:
Yup, along with the Impala, Cruze, the Cadillac CT6 and XTS, and the Buick LaCrosse.
I’m in a Soul as well, so I too am not sure where I sit on the issue.
I just know that I sit there comfortably with easy access and lots of head and legroom.
I’ve only owned cars and my wife has only owned cars. The only reason we would buy anything bigger is if we had a third child, but, right now, it’s two, and cars suffice. I do not like big vehicles. I feel more “connected” to smaller vehicles. Anything a Lincoln Towncar size or bigger, I feel more like I’m driving a boat than a car. I just somehow feel removed from the driving experience with those vehicles. The biggest I’ve driven was a 36’ RV for a couple weeks. That was an interesting experience. Took me about eight hours to get used to it. Not my favorite thing in the world. Give me a small, zippy car any day.
I live in Europe where currently a liter of gas costs € 1,52 (or more along the interstates). That is about $ 6.50/gallon. Mileage trumps size in my world. Then again, I can legally drive 150 mph and my “car” does that with ease at only 25 mpg. It holds anything and anybody I ever need to transport with comfort and ample leg room. We also have paved roads here and little or no use for four wheel drive.
TIL only Europe has paved roads. And never gets snow.
I have not owned any sort of vehicle since 1988, when I sold my old 1979 Chevrolet Chevette for $70. My father sold it for me after I left, and I let him keep the money for his trouble. The only reason it brought that much was because it had new tires.
Well, I should not say I have not owned any vehicle, because I had an old bicycle in Albuquerque and then a new one the first time I lived here in Honolulu.
I love not having to fool with the expense of owning a car. The wife and I occasionally rent one to drive around the island, otherwise we’re good.
Technically, I own 2 cars I guess. My college aged son has a little Mazda 3 (high school graduation gift,) and Girl 2.0 inherited her granddad’s 1990 Cadillac ghetto sled due to my dad’s macular degeneration. I’ve never driven either farther than the corner store, though.
My ride is a 1999 Chevy Suburban 4wd. I live on a red clay road. Four wheel drive is useful.
(My next car is probably a Subaru wagon or small SUV, though. The 'burb was practical when I had 4 kids and 2 big dogs at home. Less so with 2 kids and 1 dog.)
150 mph? Evidently you live in Germany, as I used to. Most of Europe restricts you (officially) to 110 or 120 kmh, which is about 70 mph. And yes, there is snow in Europe, although relatively little in recent years.
Okay, thanks; the stupid is apparently contagious.
I own two cars, but I’m about to replace one with a small SUV (Honda CR-V or Subaru Forester.) I’ve owned sedans, hatchbacks, and wagons in the past – this will be my first SUV.
But I observe that SUVs used to be really different from cars. They were built on a truck chassis, and tipped over, and had horrible fuel efficiency. Now they are really just taller station wagons, and (in part thanks to electronic stability control) have similar handling and mileage to similar-size cars. I’m going with the small SUV because I want the space for hauling stuff from time to time, but I want a shorter vehicle, the better to park in the city. Going up rather than back seems like a good deal to me.
5’2" as well. Currently on my first SUV (a used Escape) and will probably go back to a sedan next time. Just didn’t see noticeable improvement in visibility (at least not over my sister’s Fusion, though it is probably better than the 2004 Grand Prix I had for parking, but I did like that car). I do not haul, do not have more than one human or pet passenger very more than a few times a year, and don’t have snow/ice (live in the south). I got it because I wanted to try something different, and heard visibility was really good and so forth. Don’t regret it, but it just doesn’t make much difference to my non-car self and I probably won’t get another SUV unless/until cars become too “low” for me getting in and out of as I get older (at least, several older relatives seem to feel that way).