True, but as best I can tell the new standards for motorcycles are still 2-5X higher than for cars.
I feel there is no market for small cars this small. They can’t carry the average fat Buttisimo American in AC riding comfort and room to throw a few things behind him/her. They may appeal to the motor cycle crowd during rain and snowy weather…but that’s it. The day of the VW Bug…is gone. The landscape is filled with basic transportation cars that did not make make it for a variety of reasons. They may have had huge popularity at one point, but American preference for comfort and ease in driving has driving them away. Obesity has determined much of the success or lack of it of many cars.
The practicality that many of us want in cars , is not shared by many of those who determine what will be made by their shear numbers. The popularity of a car is determined not only by who buys it new, but by who buys it second and third hand. When it gets to that level, the buyers most are totally uninterested for many reasons, the biggest IMho, is they can’t fit. Nearly 70% of Americans over 20 are overweight and in need of larger then average seating of yesteryear’s basic transportation.
"Nearly 70% of Americans over 20 are overweight and in need of larger then average seating of yesteryear's basic transportation."
Yup!
“The landscape is filled with basic transportation cars that did not make make it for a variety of reasons”
The original Hyundai Excel
Renault Lecar
Yugo
Just to name a few . . .
The Excel sold decently until they developed the reputation of being unreliable. It took a lot of years and 100,000 mile warranties for Hyundai to become a respectable car again. Renault never sold well in the US, either the bigger cars or the small ones. Yugo was also doomed by incredibly poor quality. They quickly became the butt of jokes, and no one wants to drive a joke.
The Tata Nano is selling poorly in India for the same reason. It’s a very practical car, well suited for the average middle class Indian family, but it still tells everyone that their owners couldn’t afford anything better. Americans may pride themselves on being middle class, but not lower middle class. That smells too much like failure.