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Unfortunately there has been a 25% import tax on trucks since the 1970's and only a 2.5% tax on import cars. Is it any wonder that somehow(marketing for decades

Unfortunately there has been a 25% import tax on trucks since the 1970's and only a 2.5% tax on import cars. Is it any wonder that somehow(marketing for decades) people have been convinced that only losers would drive a minivan (counted as a car). If someone like Apple or another new company could make a one passenger car really cool looking and inexpensive (Say $5-10k), probably electric, small enough so a least two go into a regular parking space, and a way that those people can share spots, it might just take off. Imagine that when you went to the city, if you see an empty spot in your mini transport, you park. No spots? Well you can park with someone else with a mini (and share the price). Set this sharing up in software and let the cars automatically switch positions, if needed, and I think you could have a real winner. Maybe three or six could fit in one spot. Electric cars sucked and only really strange, low status, people drove them. Post Tesla, I would say that is not the case any more. Similar thing could work here.

bobthepanda 8y ago
I mean, there are still small status cars with good marketing (Mini) and those are not really that small, nor do they sell as well as large cars. You can blame it on marketing, but it's still a problem. What you're proposing just moves cars into the "small, cheap, and shabby" category; people buy cars for status, not just economics.
- MrMorden 8y ago
  The current MINIs' size is, for the most part, dictated by safety requirements. They don't sell as well as large cars because they're BMWs and are priced accordingly. Kei cars (which are similar in size to the classic Mini) do sell large volumes in Japan and are quite cheap, but they don't meet the aforementioned safety requirements (in either the US or EU) and their sales numbers are heavily inflated because you don't need proof of off-street parking to register one.

bobthepanda 8y ago

I mean, there are still small status cars with good marketing (Mini) and those are not really that small, nor do they sell as well as large cars. You can blame it on marketing, but it's still a problem. What you're proposing just moves cars into the "small, cheap, and shabby" category; people buy cars for status, not just economics.

MrMorden 8y ago
The current MINIs' size is, for the most part, dictated by safety requirements. They don't sell as well as large cars because they're BMWs and are priced accordingly. Kei cars (which are similar in size to the classic Mini) do sell large volumes in Japan and are quite cheap, but they don't meet the aforementioned safety requirements (in either the US or EU) and their sales numbers are heavily inflated because you don't need proof of off-street parking to register one.