jamesqf -
Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesqf
But that's still only part of the story. Sure, economic incentives would have inclined some people towards smaller/more efficient cars, but even when gas was cheap, there were still plenty of people (me, for one) who simply prefer small cars, even though we could easily afford the costs associated with running a big one. Detroit just threw this market away - no, more than that, they tried to convince the public that our size preference was somehow unnatural and "unAmerican".
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Me too, I've always owned fuel-efficient compact cars. But I don't think we are in the car-buying majority.
And I know what you're saying, but the distinction I am trying to make is that there is a broader context in which Detroit failed. You drive a 1st-gen Insight that you fully admit was an economic failure for Honda. If gas prices had been higher, do you think Honda would have sold more 1st-gen Insights?
Would you disagree that *legislated* higher fuel prices would have effected the evolution of American car design? When I talk about legislation, I am talking about an artificial environment that promotes higher MPG cars. Conversely, cheap gas leads to an equally artificial environment of low MPG cars.
From my POV, Detroit and America are two sides of the same coin.
CarloSW2