Jump to content

I found Clay's next car


copperhead

Recommended Posts

If a sub-$10k car could be sold today in the U.S. profitably, a car company would've done it already. Look at the Versa, old Neon, base-model KIA's and Hyundais...nothing starts at $9995 anymore...

 

Love the idea, but unless regulations change there is no way a Tata Nano is coming to the States for less than $10k. Mahindra trucks failed, and I'm afraid this will never work either.

 

I've toyed with the idea of starting a company that makes true kit cars - buy a body, engine/transmission combo, wheels, etc, and build it yourself for cheap - but you can only sell a thousand or so before the gubmint starts making you play by the EPA/CAFE/NHTSA rules....then the cost goes up dramatically. Tough to recoup millions in design/tooling/manufacturing costs when you're trying to make a few bucks off of 1- to 2 thousand cars a year.

 

U.S.A. = TPMS, 15 airbags, 3 catalytic converters, crumple zones, automatic transmissions but still need to get 40mpg, etc etc etc:thumbdown

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have never understood the logic of people who buy totally stripped out, super basic new cars which are basically just boxes on wheels versus an equally reliable, substantially nicer car that is one to two years old.

 

There are a ton of reasons, and unfortunately the majority of them boil down to two factors: people make stupid financial decisions and our society makes you think you need to buy a new car every few years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For the first time evar I'm saying we need to join something run by the UN. The World Forum For Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Forum_for_Harmonization_of_Vehicle_Regulations

 

This would mean we could save taxpayer money by killing off a good portion of the NHTSA, we could easily import cars from other countries without having to spend $100,000 making them legal here because they would already be legal, and the automakers would have to make fewer different models which would save them money. Right now for any given car they have to make a left hand drive version, a right hand drive version, and a US/Canada version. Eliminate the US/Canada version and they instantly save money, which would (theoretically) get passed on to the consumer in more competitive prices. It would also allow us to get these super cheap crapwagons, and more diesels. And to import something like the Focus RS that we don't have here, we would just need to have it shipped and be done with it.

 

So how do we start an interest group to start lobbying Congress?

 

edit - this is also why the rest of the world started getting really good headlights in the 70's and we didn't start until the 90's. Our government didn't like better lighting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

edit - this is also why the rest of the world started making really good cars in the 70's and we didn't start until the 2 years ago.

 

:megusta:

 

I'm with you though, some of the US standards are fucking stupid.

 

Good luck selling this potato mobile in murka...can't sell an Audi Sportback in the US because it doesn't have enough headroom, or most diesel cars because it doesn't have 18 cats on it :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I REALLY want to see Jeep kill off the stupid Liberty, bring back the Cherokee, then bring back the Comanche as a very reasonably priced, high MPG compact pickup since those don't exist any more, and mid size trucks almost don't exist any more either. It would be super easy for them to build them using the driveline out of the Wrangler and source a turbodiesel I4 from Cummins.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...