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The $25k car is going extinct?

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319 points pseudolus | 2 comments | 29 Jun 25 15:59 UTC | HN request time: 0.428s | source
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blacklion ◴[30 Jun 25 10:05 UTC] No.44421429[source]▶
I cannot reply to each comment which mention "EU" or "Europe", so I write this one.

Why do you speak about EU/Europe as a whole? There is no such thing. I thought it is, but, now, when I moved to "Europe", I see that ti was illusion.

Prices are different across countries. Do you think Poland, Portugal and the Netherlands have same prices? HA! Compare prices in the Netherlands and its neighbor Belgium. I didn't compare prices for (new) cars, but I did for new motorcycles. Difference can be up to 20%. And it is two of three countries which are known as "Benelux", not two countries on different edges of EU.

Choice is difference between countries too, there are models which are present in one country and not in the orthers. Heck, even selection of a food is drastically different in two Lidls (two supermarkets of same chain) on different sides of Netherlands/Germany border in 10km vicinity!

Many people say that they see that almost all new cars they see are BYD & others — there is no BYD in Netherlands, for example. There is Lynk & Co (which is Volvo / Geely / Zeekr), and it's all of Chinese brands.

There is no such single entity as "Europe" or "EU". Different countries are very different in available goods, prices, taxes and regulations. Yes, there are global things, like GDPR or emission regulations (Euro 5/Euro 6), but still there are a plenty room for difference.

And even "single economic area" is illusion: you cannot simply register car or motorcycle bought in Portugal or Belgium in the Netherlands, you need to pay local VAT, local ecological taxes, etc. So no, there is no "lifehack to buy car or motorcycle in Belgium and save 20%.

replies(1): >>44422156 #
1. benjiro ◴[30 Jun 25 11:53 UTC] No.44422156[source]▶
The "lifehack to buy car or motorcycle in Belgium and save 20%" is a Dutch only problem, as the Dutch Government makes car (and house) ownership extreme expensive. There is a reason why so many better off Dutch people buy properties and cars across the border, live in Belgium or Germany, and travel each day to work in the Netherlands.

For the rest of the EU, you can buy a Polish car, and register it in Germany for a few hundred euro's.

And FYI: The united states is the same. You can not just move cars across states if you live in a different state. It requires local registration per state (with different requirements), and local number plates.

Second: Yes, prices can differ for the same car, in different countries. And manufactures deliberately make it harder to price compare cars by changing the trim on each car / region. So the same car in Germany may have more features that are not present on the same car in Poland. And yet, again, in the States prices often differ per state. For the same reason why a Polish car can be trimmed down to be cheaper, vs a German version of the car: Not every state has the same medium income. So car manufacture / dealers, price match the cars and options, according to the local demographic.

The rest is a useless discussion as this is regional food, vs regional companies. You may discover that in the US, despite the same global brandnames, there are often large differences between stores, based upon the regional eating habits, and local food producers. Yes, there is more standardization because of the global monopoly level of food production but regional is still a major thing.

> There is no such single entity as "Europe" or "EU". Different countries are very different in available goods, prices, taxes and regulations.

First off, its EU, not Europe. People simply associate the EU with Europe. That is a common issue and not something to nitpick about.

You may be surprised how much we already standardized across the EU. Have you ever left the Netherlands? I mean, not just cross border travel but actual work / live? If you did that now, 10 years ago, or 20 years ago, each time the difference are huge (as in easier and easier). A lot of laws and rules are now standardized across the EU. Hell, i remember the days that getting a piece of paper involved notarization and legalization, now its just a quick call to the ambt and you get a EU version of the paperwork. Valid in all EU states.

replies(1): >>44433982 #
2. blacklion ◴[01 Jul 25 13:59 UTC] No.44433982[source]▶
I understand, that USA is not homogeneous too!

> Have you ever left the Netherlands?

Rather no, as I'd moved to the Netherlands 2.5 years ago from outside of EU and don't have any rights to work outside the Netherlands :-)

It is not strict "No" because I've spent a lot of time (like, more than a yer on the span of 10 years, so more than month per year) in Germany on my previous work (in "business trips") and can compare everyday/household activities, but not bureaucratic or legal side of life, of course.

What I could compare is my experience as immigrant in the Netherlands with experience of my friends with same background as immigrants in Germany (lot of my friends had moved to Munich and Berlin same time I'd moved to Amsterdam). And difference is striking (in favor of the Netherlands). My experience with banks, IND (immigration department), Gemeente (municipality) and now even with mortgage (Which is cheaper than rent!) is much, much smoother that same experience of all my friends who choose Germany. Mortgage especially: no friends of mine could get approve for mortgage in Germany, even some of them who have salary significantly large than mine (like, x1.5 larger).