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It’s time for Americans to embrace small cars

arstechnica.com It’s time for Americans to embrace small cars

Small cars are good for us but bad for business.

It’s time for Americans to embrace small cars
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[HN] It’s time for Americans to embrace small cars

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  • In California, America's largest state by population, our #1 selling vehicle is the Honda Civic. And driving on our roads, Civics, Corollas, Accords etc... dominate the roads. And even the biggest selling SUV the CRV gets like 30+ to the gallon.

    Small cars sell in places where small cars work.

    • You list few vehicles but don't appear to know they are in different segments. They're not classified the same so you can't lump them together.

      • Civic is small sedan or hatchback
      • Accord is mid size sedan
      • Corolla is small sedan or hatchback
      • CRV is a mid size crossover

      Small cars, and mid size cars for that matter, don't sell well in general. They're ~9% of total sales each. Luxury and full size sedans are like ~3% each but they are targeting a very specific demographic that know they'll always have a buyer.

      People often blanket both true SUVs and Crossovers into the SUV category for simplicity. But they are in fact different. Crossovers do breakdown into multiple segments itself, though it's typically the mid and full size that sell very well. Collectively crossovers are ~48% of the market. A good example of how to differentiate is Ford Explorer is full size, Ford Escape is mid size, Ford EcoSport is small.

      Trucks are ~19%, and actual SUVs are ~8%. For example the Ford F-150 and Ford Expedition share the exact same ladder chassis. Different bodies are bolted on. By this definition, SUVs don't sell well either. Lol. The terms gets muddied up due to mass consumer confusion.

      Vans fill the rest of the percentage here, but are typically commercial and fleet.

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