people in europe don't understand american's. me personally, i drive a 2000 chrysler concorde. i average 30-32 MPG on the highway (road trips) and 22-24 bumping back and forth to work each day. i average a tank of gas a week and around 400 miles per tank on road trips. i like many americans travel quite a bit. i live in indiana, i have family in florida, wisconsin, illinois, michigan, california, and nevada. i drive to northern wisconsin at least 4-5 times a year.
two things americans like: 1. big 2. comfortable
i'd be perfectly happy with a honda or nissan but honestly, they are lousy cars. they're uncomfortable, noisy, the seats are like sitting on church pews, and i feel like i'm driving the cheapest piece of crap out there. my concorde is full leather, power everything, quiet, has 8 speakers, and a really nice cruise control. if i could get all the room (read width) in a car the size of a honda and quality built, i'd buy it! however, i can't. foreign cars suck because they're built cheaply. i've been in an avalon. i wasn't impressed. it's still a small crappy jap car.
american car manufacturers understand that we buy cars on three basic factors: 1. styling (i.e. does it look really cool or "mean") 2. big ass engine because we love to floor it getting on the interstate or running yellow lights 3. comfortable (legroom, wide seat, plush seat, etc...)
the japanese cars do not meet these criteria and that's why the ford f150 which does is selling so much. the japanese have sold cars to all the tree huggers here, all the folks who hold reliability above all other, and those who have evaluated the dollars and cents of owning a big truck or SUV.
the japanese have yet to figure out that what the other 50% of people that are solid american car only car buyers are by and large disasstisfied with the crappy foreign cars. like i said above. honda does not have to build a giant SUV to get me to buy it. they have to build a small but COMFORTABLE car. in car manufacturing, small equates to cheap and crappy. if someone was to build a plush 2dr econobox i'd probably buy it. if i could get all the niceties of my concorde in a 2 dr. with no trunk i'd be happy. however, this vehicle doesn't exist. comfort in this country = big. and big = big ass engine and that's what american's love.
i have three vehicles: 1. the chrysler (which i put 20-25k miles on a year) 2. a '93 f250 supercab (for all my hauling needs - gets like 12 mpg - maybe 2k miles a year) 3. '86 honda 450 motorcycle(summertime commuting to work = 60 mpg)
most people don't want to maintain three vehicles like i do so they take the lowest common denominator which is a giant vehicle. this one vehicle serves all their needs.
besides, our government knows we want cheap gas and we'll use our military to strong arm any country who won't give it to us. it's not my way but that's the way our government thinks.
you aren't going to affect changes with us solid americans until gas gets exteremely high or until the big three fold.
Slashdot Mirror
people in europe don't understand american's. me personally, i drive a 2000 chrysler concorde. i average 30-32 MPG on the highway (road trips) and 22-24 bumping back and forth to work each day. i average a tank of gas a week and around 400 miles per tank on road trips. i like many americans travel quite a bit. i live in indiana, i have family in florida, wisconsin, illinois, michigan, california, and nevada. i drive to northern wisconsin at least 4-5 times a year.
two things americans like:
1. big
2. comfortable
i'd be perfectly happy with a honda or nissan but honestly, they are lousy cars. they're uncomfortable, noisy, the seats are like sitting on church pews, and i feel like i'm driving the cheapest piece of crap out there. my concorde is full leather, power everything, quiet, has 8 speakers, and a really nice cruise control. if i could get all the room (read width) in a car the size of a honda and quality built, i'd buy it! however, i can't. foreign cars suck because they're built cheaply. i've been in an avalon. i wasn't impressed. it's still a small crappy jap car.
american car manufacturers understand that we buy cars on three basic factors:
1. styling (i.e. does it look really cool or "mean")
2. big ass engine because we love to floor it getting on the interstate or running yellow lights
3. comfortable (legroom, wide seat, plush seat, etc...)
the japanese cars do not meet these criteria and that's why the ford f150 which does is selling so much. the japanese have sold cars to all the tree huggers here, all the folks who hold reliability above all other, and those who have evaluated the dollars and cents of owning a big truck or SUV.
the japanese have yet to figure out that what the other 50% of people that are solid american car only car buyers are by and large disasstisfied with the crappy foreign cars. like i said above. honda does not have to build a giant SUV to get me to buy it. they have to build a small but COMFORTABLE car. in car manufacturing, small equates to cheap and crappy. if someone was to build a plush 2dr econobox i'd probably buy it. if i could get all the niceties of my concorde in a 2 dr. with no trunk i'd be happy. however, this vehicle doesn't exist. comfort in this country = big. and big = big ass engine and that's what american's love.
i have three vehicles:
1. the chrysler (which i put 20-25k miles on a year)
2. a '93 f250 supercab (for all my hauling needs - gets like 12 mpg - maybe 2k miles a year)
3. '86 honda 450 motorcycle(summertime commuting to work = 60 mpg)
most people don't want to maintain three vehicles like i do so they take the lowest common denominator which is a giant vehicle. this one vehicle serves all their needs.
besides, our government knows we want cheap gas and we'll use our military to strong arm any country who won't give it to us. it's not my way but that's the way our government thinks.
you aren't going to affect changes with us solid americans until gas gets exteremely high or until the big three fold.
'nuff said
~LP