Every country that’s developing has import duties on items they might want to manufacture themselves. The overall balance of payments is important here as well.
We lived in Malaysia and there was a 200% import duty on large engine cars such as a Mercedes E class. That car cist $171,000 with manual transmission. In Germany that car cost$50,000 or so.
However, if a car was brought in in parts (CKD) the import duty was much less.
A Toyota Corolla imported from Japan cost twice that of a locally made car based on a Mitsubishi car,
In another post I mentioned that the automobile is the ultimate aphrodisiac. Unfettered imports of cars and use of gasoline made form imported oil can severely disrupt the economy.
So, every country, rich or poor without a car industry or oil puts a heavy cost burden on driving. Denmark is a rich country without oil, gas or a car industry. Driving a car is very expensive there.
We have - so far - oil aplenty. And even more natural gas as well.
Production has some years reached over 23 mill. cu/m yearly for oil and close to 10 bill. cu/m yealy for gas.
Oil production has now started to decline a bit duo to wells getting depleted/low, but they are still finding more gas out there in the north sea.
I think rich is a relative term but I’ll definately not call my country the “poor house”.
I should add that in countries with old, congested cities, there is usually a stiff tax on LARGE vehicles. Imagine if every Dane had a Ford F150 Crew Cab!
Asterix, You don’t say where you live, but the USA and Canada have all the ingredients to allow big vehicles; lots of oil, a viable car industry, and lots of open spaces.
Very true. One of my fellow workers if from Trinidad. He has lived all over including a stint in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. But he still considers any weather below 70º to be cold and is looking forward to moving back to Trinidad when he retires next year.
I don’t believe that, if all taxes and what have you was removed, that, that would give very much in changes of sales with regards to sizes. Even if we had the infrastructure etc for those cars. We buy what we need and we don’t need big “boats” to transport us around. In case you need to haul something bigger, it’s alot easier to use a trailer.
Some (a very few) buy some big cars, but those big cars don’t do anything that my smallish Opel won’t do so why waste any money on that. I prefer some delicous food for something which don’t give me anything.
All of Europe was in terrible condition after WWII, and no one could afford large cars or the fuel to use them. That’s why microcars like the Isetta were so popular there. We never had that problem in North America. Until oil was discover in the North Sea, there was not much crude in Europe. This led to high fees to discourage large cars, and it was also a convenient way to pay a large part of government funded health care. I’m sure you and @Docnick know this, but other readers may not.
@anon86613489. I wished all people were as rational as you. I implied nowhere that Denmark was a poor country, it is just not as energy rich and you pay about 4 times per kilowatt of electricity that we do 14 cents a kwhr).
I have Dutch citizenship and when I visit my relatives over there they always envy us for the large cars we drive and the low cost of gasoline. If not for taxes, most Dutch residents could afford big cars but would go broke putting gas in them. Parking in old Dutch cities would be a tough job with a pickup trick or one of our large boats.
The whole point I am making here is that car ownership in most countries needs to be managed by government rules and taxes to avoid chaos and to protect the balance of payments.
Saudi Arabia has few rules and on a visit I saw the tour bus being gassed, and the total came to about $14 US equivalent. At that time gas was 7 cents a liter I believe.
Nothing in the above statements have anything to do with climate change. France charged 85 cents a gallon for gas when it was 30 cents in the US and before anyone had heard of an energy crisis.
European nations have taxed cars on the basis of their engine displacement since early in the 20th Century, and that led to the popularity of cars much smaller than what we became used to in The US. This displacement-based taxation preceded government-funded healthcare by… decades.
I know and I did not take it that way at all. What I meant is, that being rich can mean many different things. I’m partially on disability and can only work for up to 10 hours a week without being wiped out and the system allows me that problem and compensates me for the rest. That’s also being rich. I get up every morning and the first thing I see out the window, is some beautifull fields and landscapes, that’s being rich too. I’m not rich in money, I recently had a (quid ibi concreti sanguinis, I can’t find an english translation other blood clot.) in my brain, some will say I did suffer from that, but in that instance - I should have had it for 40 years ago but I still think I have a good life and I ain’t gonna kick the bucket anytime soon. I know that will annoy some people tremendously.
When studies are conducted to determine the happiness of the people in developed countries, Denmark is usually ranked as the happiest nation–or at least as one of the top 3 nations.
True, but I think what I do for different reasons than my neigbour. We can still be equally happy with our place/country. The human race is a diversified group. Thank (somebody) for that.
@anon86613489 Thank for the reply. Most residents on our street have trucks, large cars or SUVs. Most are entirely unnecessary. Only two need a truck since they have large campers.
The tax structure here does not discriminate between vehicle weight or engine power, so the annual plates for a car or truck are the same. In France my old Chevrolet Caprice V8 would have an annual road tax of $1500 compared to about $100 for a small 4 cylinder Renault. No major manufacturer in France makes 8 cylinder cars!
I agree with you that social services such as health care and other assistance is a major mark of a rich country. Universal “no cost” health care has become a major election issue in US elections. If I had to pick a country where I’d most like to be when sick, it would be Sweden or The Netherlands. Not the USA. Canada is very close to Europe in universal health care.
Yes and as they say, freedom and liberty is not free. Every generation needs to fight the same battle again and the worrisome part is as Ronnie said we are only one generation away from losing it. Read Eastern European history after the war. Starts with speech, schools, weapons, and deteriorates from there. Sorry.
Sir Joseph Lukas Prince of Darkness. I owned 5 British cars but don’t count the Jaguar Mk VII which I wisely purchased one day and sold for a profit the next day. I must have been as evil as the Prince of Darkness as he gave me a pass on electrical problems concerning the other 4. I rode in a 1970s Skoda in the Czech Republic. It reminded me of a Fiat 124 sedan. Nothing to write home about.
Very timely. It was a clear blue 70F with a very light breeze day in the Oregon mid Willamette valley. I was just at a local convenience store talking to one of the 2 East Indian brothers who own it. He agreed it was a very nice day and he really liked the weather here I asked about weather in low altitude India compared to the mountains. He confirmed it was very hot and humid. Da Nang being located on the North coast of South Viet Nam was probably one of the “cooler” places in the country. He told me about people visiting the higher elevations in India and shivering in mid 70s temperatures. I told him of visiting South Padre Island, Texas when the temperature was 72F and the very few people outside were wearing parkas!!! Same thing in Southern California. I have experienced +122F to - 30F and survived. I have been in Europe when people were actually dying when temperatures were in the 90Fs. Why!
The Feb 2019 issue of Practical Classics magazine has a humorous story about a Skoda Favorit that was purchased & “restored” in order to enter a car rally in the French Alps. This all after a 15 year layup at a UK dealership, sitting unused. The team welded everything that had come unwelded, and adjusted everything that was maladjusted, repaired everything that was unrepaired, and decided the day before the rally start day they were ready to roll. They didn’t even get out of England, the head gasket became incontinent on the first hill … lol
The advantage of the Skoda however is that replacing the head gasket is only a 4 hour job. They and the Skoda still made made it to the Alps with time to spare, and no car issues during the rally or the return trip.
Your daughter should visit India - where there’s no road space to drive, you can drive on the sidewalks (which, btw, are also filled with foot-traffic, who have to scatter around for their dear lives) and you can park on someone’s head (and if they move, they could be accused of stealing ) .
But, even at well-connected places with plenty public transportation, owning that piece of junk metal with no space to store or drive is deemed a sign of prosperity of some kind (much like showing off multitude of offsprings a sign of virility for some!) - effects of the 1.5B and increasing!!
) .