> It seems pretty clear "an affordable daily driver" is not really what US drivers want I don't agree with this statement. Automakers continue to use the chip

> It seems pretty clear "an affordable daily driver" is not really what US drivers want I don't agree with this statement. Automakers continue to use the chip shortage of a couple years ago as an excuse to only manufacturer full-loaded cars of all types. I haven't seen a single base model new vehicle for sale at the dealership in years, ever since the chip shortage began (and is no longer a problem). The US driver doesn't want anything in particular, I have no clue how you can characterize a market of 200 million people with that statement. Maybe rich people in the Bay Area "want" a full loaded Model S, but there are huge numbers of people in America that make a fraction of Tier-1 salaries. They still care about the environment and want a sub-30k car that has fewer features than a Tesla. It's unfair to toss their desires aside and claim that the market knows what the people want. It's like saying the American Macintosh user wants expensive Apple computers because Apple doesn't make a cheap computer. The US auto industry is in a state of regulatory capture. They all operate in a coordinated manner to not undercut each other and sell cheap cars. They can all make more money as an industry if they just sell the most expensive possible car to the consumer, and convince them they got a great deal by offering 96-month car payments and inscrutable lease offers that end up scamming the consumer at every urn.