Bentley / VOLVO say, no pistons after 2030

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

One thing I can say is that I'm glad Volvo is trying to make it happen. Two of my favorite cars are the electric car and the station wagon (aka estate). Bring the two of them together and that would be a perfect car, for me anyhow. Either that or a minivan. I just don't like SUV's and crossovers, which is what everyone else seems to be doing. But Volvo will likely make an electric station wagon happen.

You won't like Volvo's recent news that they are going to discontinue sedan and wagon models and replace them with crossovers. People vote with their dollars - 75% of their sales are crossovers today.

https://www.autoweek.com/news/indust...ns-and-wagons/

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by JSH

You won't like Volvo's recent news that they are going to discontinue sedan and wagon models and replace them with crossovers. People vote with their dollars - 75% of their sales are crossovers today.

https://www.autoweek.com/news/indust...ns-and-wagons/

Darn it! I was afraid if that. I feel like society favors less efficient designs under the excuse that it's not too inefficient. But do an indepth study of aerodynamic and real world statistics and you'll see that there is a noticable difference in efficiency with even such a small increase in vehicle height. It's better, from an efficiency standpoint, to increase length, not height when making a bigger vehicle.

A case in point. When Mazda dumped the Mazda 6 Wagon back in 2008 and instead offered just the CX-7 Crossover the M6 Wagon actually had more passenger and cargo space and also had more acceleration, better fuel mileage and cost less than the CX-7.

Today's moto for society is, "Get a crossover so it can cost more to have less space, less power and less fuel mileage."

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by JSH

Volvo's stated goal for 2021 is 800,000 vehicles.

So far this year plug-in vehicles made up 26.6% of Volvo sales

Since the last year, I have seen more hybrid Volvos than non-hybrid ones even in Brazil. But it's more related to tax benefits than anything else.

[Flakbadger]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

But do an indepth study of aerodynamic and real world statistics and you'll see that there is a noticable difference in efficiency with even such a small increase in vehicle height.

Yeeeaaah, we live in a post-facts world, statistics don't mean anything, even if they definitively prove things.

The US especially has moved to all large vehicles and stupid crossovers, which leaves people like me who would like to fit two cars in our two-car garage completely S.O.L.

My old Yaris sedan and my wife's Fit could park comfortably in our garage and still leave room for a chest freezer and small garage fridge alongside.

Now just having my boat of a Nissan Leaf takes up so much room that we leave her car parked outside in the elements.

[freebeard]

Yeeeaaah, we live in a post-facts world, statistics don't mean anything, even if they definitively prove things.

We live in a post-feelings world, opinions don't mean anything, being right is the same as being moral.

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by JSH

Volvo sold 661,713 cars in 2020 with 391,751 in the 2nd half.

Volvo's stated goal for 2021 is 800,000 vehicles.

So far this year plug-in vehicles made up 26.6% of Volvo sales

Well it's a joke but then again so are Volvo's sales numbers. They had to do something.

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

And at the same time some are saying that COVID is going to cause a wave of people to move out of the cities and into the rurals. Then again, giving up McDonald's, Super Walmart and EV's would be a tough price to pay to move out of the city.
.

I think you might be surprised just how small of a town can support a fast food franchise or 2. Walmarts are pretty common in rural areas but with Amazon shipping all the same products right to your door for no charge even if you lived 50 miles from the nearest town and that town only had 100 people, because of the Post Office's universal service mandate, who needs brick and mortar stores at all?

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

I think you might be surprised just how small of a town can support a fast food franchise or 2.

Sure some folks would be attracted to a fast-food franchise, while others may prefer local businesses. I have already visited small towns where it seemed to be viable to open a McDonald's franchise, but the amount of local restaurants and bars got me quite skeptical about the locals willing to eat at a McDonald's once the excitement of the opening is over. Even on touristic destinations, even though some tourists may enjoy the convenience of eating something which is more standardized to some extent instead of enjoying local specialties.

[Isaac Zachary]

After living all my childhood at least 40 minutes away from the nearest fast-food place it would strike me funny when I'd visit other countries and find that the people there were under the impression that we Americans eat fast-food every day.

[Joggernot]

I don't know what ya'all consider small town; we have 15k total in three towns here and have McD; Sonic; Popeyes; Taco Bell; Golden Chick; Kentucky Fried; etc. We tend to patronize our local restaurants (not fast food) because they have better food We also have a Walmart and three hardware/lumber stores. Amazon gets a lot of business because I'm lazy.