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Volkswagen seeks to counter rivals with budget EV model

(www.ttnews.com)
144 points herbertl | 3 comments | 06 Mar 25 00:36 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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kcb ◴[06 Mar 25 00:48 UTC] No.43274788[source]▶
Sounds like the US needs to target it with tariffs quick. Surely it will be better for our economy to ensure the survival of a couple zombie automakers than it would be to bring accessible EVs to all.
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throwaway48476 ◴[06 Mar 25 00:58 UTC] No.43274861[source]▶
It's too small for the US market. EU vehicles are on average much smaller.
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1. technothrasher ◴[06 Mar 25 01:21 UTC] No.43275072[source]▶
Last time I was in Germany, I was looking forward to driving something smaller than the usual beasts here in the US, and something with a manual transmission. But when I got to the Munich airport rental counter, they had “upgraded” me to the biggest automatic Volvo SUV I’d ever seen, because they were out of everything else. It was nice enough on the autobahn, but it was a pain in the rear in the small towns.
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2. jmugan ◴[06 Mar 25 02:27 UTC] No.43275676[source]▶
I think I drove that same car out of Frankfurt! But we had five people and luggage, so I guess it worked out.
3. jjav ◴[06 Mar 25 09:12 UTC] No.43278084[source]▶
> I was looking forward to driving something smaller than the usual beasts here in the US, and something with a manual transmission. But when I got to the Munich airport rental counter, they had “upgraded” me to the biggest automatic Volvo SUV

This was many years ago so I don't know how it is today..

I reserved the cheapest standard transmission car for rent at the Frankfurt airport. When I got there they downgraded me to an automatic car. I held firm and said I reserved a standard car so that's what I must have. I had to wait over an hour but finally they found me a standard car, a much upgraded model too compared to the cheapest one I reserved.