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The $25k car is going extinct?

(media.hubspot.com)
319 points pseudolus | 3 comments | 29 Jun 25 15:59 UTC | HN request time: 0.607s | source
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puzzlingcaptcha ◴[30 Jun 25 06:20 UTC] No.44420041[source]▶
You can still buy a new subcompact car (like a Renault Clio or Skoda Fabia) in Europe for under 20k EUR.

The more interesting question is why these cars disappeared in the US. And while many of the factors discussed here are true for both EU and US (inflation, interest rates, manufacturer profit margins etc) I am surprised no one mentioned the 'SUV loophole' of US regulations that effectively boosted the SUVs (off-road vehicles are classified as non-passenger automobiles with everything that entails, notably much less stringent emission standards) and made the small cars unprofitable to make in comparison.

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rmnwski ◴[30 Jun 25 07:31 UTC] No.44420471[source]▶
Also, the more SUVs are driven, the less safe people feel (and arguably are), accelerating the need to buy an SUV for safety reasons.
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amelius ◴[30 Jun 25 09:18 UTC] No.44421146[source]▶
On the other hand, if you kill someone in a traffic accident, you feel shit the rest of your life.
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names_are_hard ◴[30 Jun 25 09:28 UTC] No.44421208[source]▶
This is true. On the other hand, if you get killed in a car accident... You also feel shit the rest of your life.
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1. amelius ◴[30 Jun 25 09:34 UTC] No.44421251[source]▶
But at least you didn't waste $ on a big car.
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2. alias_neo ◴[30 Jun 25 10:20 UTC] No.44421524[source]▶
If you had spent it, you might still be alive, and if you aren't, it's hardly wasted, since you no longer need it.

Jokes aside, I live in the UK, and occasionality I see vehicles here that are entirely too big and unnecessary for our roads.

There was a lady driving what I think was a Defender 130 (I don't know modern LRs too well), it was far too big for the parking spaces in the tiny car park we were in, she could only just see over the steering wheel, and she had no chance of seeing my 5yo child I was walking back to my car with; who's quite tall for 5 but didn't reach over the height of the bonnet.

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3. amelius ◴[30 Jun 25 11:30 UTC] No.44421982[source]▶
> If you had spent it, you might still be alive, and if you aren't, it's hardly wasted, since you no longer need it.

Only if you crash right after you bought the car ...