What’s even crazier it that the Veloster, despite being 5 inches shorter than a C-HR, has more passenger room. And the drivetrain in the Toyota is simply awful.

It was relatively cheap, it looked “fun”, and it wears a Toyota badge. That’s enough to convince an awful lot of people to hand over their money.

Exactly this.  It looks like a fun rally car, which attracts young, mostly female buyers… in reality it has very little power, FWD and gets middling fuel economy.   

This is just one of those cars that doesn’t do what it says on the box. “sporty compact car” = lethargic 1.2 turbo or lackluster hybrid with a CVT. “Practical small SUV” = postage stamp rear window, tiny boot and really high sill lines in the back with no leg room. It just doesn’t work on any level. 

Also most cars are leaps and bounds more “reliable” than they were even 20 years ago. Any unscheduled trip to a service department is enough to have some people trading in immediately like it’s a death trap. Even cars from famously “unreliable” brands are generally fine. My Chevy Cruze is just under 90K miles, and has…

I knew someone who got rid of a Chevrolet Trax early to buy one of these because she hated the Trax she had that much. I wonder how she feels now?

I feel like that entire class of extra small SUV’s would be a black hole of owner regret. 

...pack in a 94 kilowatt hour battery...

Ok but those Ram ProMasters are rebadged Fiat Ducatos, so by your logic they have just as much facist DNA (none).

not to mention Ford already has an EV Transit. 67kwh and 126miles range, an extra half ton capacity, and a plethora of sizing options. they would be able to get smaller or larger vehicles depending on the route package volume while having standard parts readily available across the entire fleet.

I detest the luxury market’s disdain for mechanical linkages. Mercedes’ column-mounted dongle, BMW’s console-mounted dildo, hate all of them.

“What obstacle can you clear with just a rear open diff that needs that much ground clearance?”

Not really true. Powdery snow, MT’s are going to do well as it’s designed to eject material from the treads as you go.

As a resident here, I can assure you, there’s no tread left on the rears.

“50 percent of crashes happen at night”

Definitely. I imagine the problem is that the added weight hasn't kept pace with the added power, especially in the diesels. Sure, there's an extra 400 pounds, but there's also an extra 600 torques. 

Ford’s system will do this when the headlights are in the “Auto” position and the wipers have been in the “on” position for a certain amount of time.

Heck, our cops seem to be clueless about this as well

Now if only their lights could be activated automatically with the wipers, as well. The number of cars I run up on through heavy rain/mist/fog/snow without their taillights on is staggering. If we can’t agree to have rear foglights and use them correctly, we should at least get headlights/taillights on.

Pickups are actually very bad in the snow if you don’t do a bit of prep - without plenty of weight in the box you’re going to be sideways at every corner at best.