Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Tele man
...unfortunately, american automotive marketing seems to be stuck on: "...take it or leave it..." rather than "...select from the list..."
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This is the problem with the "demand" for diesels (and other small base cars) in the states. Because no one sells little diesels in the states (or markets them) no one buys them. Then the Big 3 a$$**les can say "well we won't sell you a barebones eco car that gets 60mpg because consumer testing says you don't want one." BULL****, I want one, my mother wants one, my brother wants one, a few of my friends want one. That equates to 99% of my social circle wanting a little eco car. My father works his GM 305cid 1/2 ton do death.
I do not want or need: A/C, power locks, power windows, heated seats, automatic transmissions, leather interior, or even power steering (my Geo Tracker was just fine with a manual rack). I love my manual shift-vinyl floor-rollup window-two speaker Ranger. I know that we can get VW TDIs over here, but no offense to the VW owners (I do like older VW), but I think the new dubs are WAY over priced. They stick behind that badge and say "we're a european car and we are going to charge you more because of it".
The dealership I work for sells Mercedes as well, so I asked one of the salesman to tell me the truth about why we cannot get their B-class base cars over here, to which he replied "Because Mercedes does not want to tarnish the high class standards which are expected by Mercedes owners." Really? I cannot get a Merc diesel base car because they don't want to tarnish the smug image they created over here? Really???
Unfortunately as much as this sounds like ranting, it's a sad truth and a harsh reality. I'm pretty sure all US cars come standard now with power everything and A/C, but manual transmissions are now an option! WTF?