Diamler? I can understand mistyping it once; but all three times, despite using a source that already has the right spelling of Daimler...? That’s quite an achievement.

Economic nationalism. It shouldn’t matter which country they come from, but some politicians (and especially unions) can get extra support by pushing for this labelling to show which cars have more content made by dirty foreigners.

The diagram would be more persuasive if it had linear scales!

That’s a really good point, but there’s a second problem: Usage varies regionally. One-size-fits-all mileage numbers would make them less accurate (in the sense that they wouldn’t fit use-cases so well), because cars (if not heavy trucks) have different usage profiles in Louisiana versus London versus Liberia versus…

nods of appreciation and raised thumbs from the drivers you have just passed on the road

The newspaper reports the “UAW can overrule a rejection by skilled trades workers if the union finds they voted against it for reasons other than issues unique to skilled trades.”

Halifax always deserves a heart-click. It’s also the birthplace of “cat’s eye” reflecting road studs.

$14500 for an old Pajero?

Antsy

On the other hand, Ford/Otosan trucks are pretty successful in Turkey, and there are quite a lot of exports.

It’s a protectionist thing.

There are generally exceptions for that kind of thing. They’re trying to improve how a city works, rather than arbitrarily enforcing rules.

Smart Roadster. It looks like an ultra-minimalist rear-engined roadster. It feels like driving a go-kart, with your arse a couple of inches off the ground and extreme lateral G in every corner. It actually has less power output than most molluscs, and the gear changes are glacial.

Just a little brand loyalty, here: I’m on my sixth Volvo and third Mercedes.

It does happen. It once happened to me off-track - whilst driving to work on a busy road I foolishly changed down from 5th to 4th with the revs too high (I was planning on doing some engine braking), except that I actually selected second gear.

Given that not everyone has the same air quality standards it’s possible that cars with the “defeat device” installed don’t violate the rules in all countries, which is something that regulators around the world are going to have to determine.

Maybe the Dakar could run in Africa. Just a thought...

Why do we even need all these complex points systems to eliminate drivers with less of a winning record?

“Doesn’t come in manual” is inconceivable here in the UK; there are handful of automatic-only cars from other manufacturers, but they’re really niche. It’s pretty hard to find an automatic Volvo here. As for power, it would presumably have engine options common to other Volvos - and the D2 is actually the most popular…

As an aside, the “new Maersk container ships” are grossly oversized for a job like this. However, the current trend for building lots of new (and often large) containerships in an era of weak demand for shipping means very weak prices for older, smaller vessels. When 1 TEU can bring fiery death to several adversary…