Another magazine I looked at was Car. Or maybe it was Top Gear. Anyway, there was a comparison text of Honda Accord-sized sedans.
I was greatly saddened.
Ford makes a fabulous car for Europe in that class called the Mondeo. GM has an equally brilliant offering called the Insignia. These cars go 130–135 mph and yet get about 49 mpg! (In US gallons, that’s about 41 mpg.)
The reason for the big car manufacturer bailouts is simply this... they believed America wasn’t sophisticated enough to buy such cars that they build elsewhere. And now that fuel prices are lower, Ford has considered not bringing the wonderful Fiesta* to America. Sigh. There is no hope.
* The current Fiesta is not anything like the one from about twenty years ago!
Update: Ford is definitely bringing the Fiesta to the States. There is hope!
There are a lot of great fuel efficient, stylish cars in Europe that we as Americans will NEVER be able to purchase. While we live in the bubble of Boulder and purchasing a low impact car is stylish in itself, Americans won’t buy them, because there is no muscle behind those great little cars.. A good portion of Americans still use their automobile as a social indentifier. Sad I know, but can be done.
Very true, Tom. It’s a cultural identity thing. It may be a long time till our culture changes. But I have been encouraged at how well the Prius is still selling!