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I drive one of the smallest production cars sold in the US in the last 3 decades, unfortunately they only sold them here for just 4 years as they didn't sell we
by tristor 4y ago
I drive one of the smallest production cars sold in the US in the last 3 decades, unfortunately they only sold them here for just 4 years as they didn't sell well. The original design was made by Toyota for the European market, where it sold well in the City Car category, a vehicle category that is essentially nonexistent throughout US vehicle history. I love my little car, not the least of which because it's extremely versatile and handles well due to the short wheelbase.
I'd love to have an electric version of the car I have now, and I know something similar is being brought to market in the EU, however it'll never be sold in the US. It's not just small cars either. I also love station wagons, which unfortunately fell out of favor in the US in preference to these awful crossovers. The Subaru Levorg is a fantastic vehicle I wish I could buy but it's not sold in the US, instead one of the last remaining wagons on the US market was converted into a crossover (Outback).
When I look at the state of the current vehicle market in the US, it reminds me of some of the opening of Snow Crash, and how everybody drives around in horribly designed minivans. Well... guess what, we pretty much have that excepts it's crossovers/CUVs and SUVs. It makes driving a worse experience on the road for everyone who isn't in a massive vehicle because you can't see through the rolling roadblocks, and they're worse in every case for everyone else in an accident, and they're more difficult to drive with worse vehicle dynamics, and the type of people who buy them are generally the worst drivers (because they see it as insulating them and their family from the consequences of their own poor skill/behavior).
It doesn't have to be this way, but unfortunately it is, and I don't see a way to fix it. I really wish we could legally import vehicles from Europe and Japan without waiting 25 years (that stupid import rule). I would really like a Kei sports car as a weekender and a tiny EV hatchback as a daily, but neither is available for sale in the US unless I want something made in the 90s that's got 100k miles on it.