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The $25k car is going extinct?

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319 points pseudolus | 5 comments | 29 Jun 25 15:59 UTC | HN request time: 1.023s | 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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dismalaf ◴[30 Jun 25 07:59 UTC] No.44420656[source]▶
Because a big part of owning a vehicle is summer roadtrips, ski vacations, visiting family, moving stuff. An SUV is simply more convenient. I've also found road maintenance is getting worse where I live, it's almost necessary having an SUV or truck just to navigate the suburbs.

Also the (semi) compact crossover has kind of killed the compact car. You get more space, better ground clearance, for a decent price.

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CalRobert ◴[30 Jun 25 08:19 UTC] No.44420773[source]▶
What you don’t mention are the increased negative externalities of your larger vehicle, including a higher chance of killing people, more road space used for parking, worse visibility for others, etc.
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1. potato3732842 ◴[30 Jun 25 11:09 UTC] No.44421812[source]▶
I'll be sure to let my elderly mother know she's making society worse by going with the HRV instead of the Civic.

In a world where ~half of all SUVs are some poof-ed up variant of a compact car a nuance free opinion like yours is just insufferable.

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2. CalRobert ◴[30 Jun 25 11:34 UTC] No.44422008[source]▶
Yet you suffer it.

And yes, your mother is more likely to kill someone in a larger, heavier, vehicle. I don’t see how anything you said refutes that.

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3. potato3732842 ◴[30 Jun 25 12:01 UTC] No.44422224[source]▶
It's not like she bought a 4Runner or Suburban. She bought a Honda compact car that's been stretched on the vertical access.

We all spend the 2000s listening to the "they're less safe because they roll over more" screeching broken record and while statistically that was true to an extent nothing really came of it, everyone decided that yeah they do but they like the tradeoff. You just sound like a 2020s cover of that. Why ought I to take your hand wringing seriously?

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4. CalRobert ◴[30 Jun 25 12:06 UTC] No.44422249{3}[source]▶
Because I’m expressing myself politely and clearly without resorting to childish attacks?
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5. potato3732842 ◴[30 Jun 25 13:09 UTC] No.44422848{4}[source]▶
Man, I really hit that one out of the park with my choice of the word "insufferable"

These typical crossovers that most people buy are more or less a direct replacement for the sedans they used to buy. Sure they're probably statistically worse at the margin but people derive a bunch more utility out of them than the sedans they replaced, which is why the form factor is carried over as best they can to the compact and subcompact hatches (impreza, c-max, etc). You have every right to tell people they ought not to be doing what benefits them because of some nebulous change at the margin that's only visible once you apply a bunch of statistics, and I have every right to call you a moron over it. But what do I know, I drive a minivan.