Exactly. If people complain that a car is:

I have not driven in the US that much. However, what I didn’t like was:

Depends on the price. If it does well in tests AND it is much cheaper than the competition, I can see it being successful. If it does not meet either requirement, it will certainly flop.

The looks of this car will be helpful in Europe though. Our market also has this strange need for caricatures of hypermasculinity, but not to the same extent as the US. Luckily.

This one?

Cheap is relative. Apparently it is still cheap enough for it to be in somewhat widespread use.

The market currently has no incentive to develop a suitable replacement. Leaded gas is cheap and there is no serious financial reason to replace it.

I was born in ‘83 as well.

I would wager there have been way more christian holy grails in history than there have been David’s holy grails. There must have been hundreds of thousands of churches in history which proposed they had a splinter of wood of Jesus’ cross, or a fingernail from one of the disciples.

Just tax that leaded gas to death, and outright ban it a decade from now. That will increase the demand for an unleaded alternative very quickly and the free market will take care of it. Problem solved.

Stellantis already has many crossovers on the international market that would slot into popular us market segments. They don’t have to reinvent the wheel for the US. I guess you are right in that they will have to dumb down and cheapen the tech for the US market. Even then it’s less work to alter an existing Peugeot…

Exactly. Americans tend to mention shorter distances in Europe, but that’s not a real reason. Europeans, like Americans, tend to use their vehicles for commuting and shopping and whatnot. Everything you can do with an EV just fine. The longer distances are not driven that often.

A displacement tax is a 20th century tax. Many countries tax (new) vehicles on carbon emissions. Your buyer of a brand new 6.0 V8 vehicle might then need to pay a 5 figure amount in tax to buy that vehicle, all while your average Prius is (almost) carbon tax free and an EV is entirely carbon tax free.

Sure you can increase the gas tax dramatically. You ‘simply’ need a way to compensate the lower incomes. Lower tax brackets, lower health care and/or education costs, and so on. There are many ways. Given the much higher gas tax income, there will be enough budget to do so.

Which is to be expected, as it was introduced in the 70s.

Dodge and Chrysler would obviously remain regional brands as well, as they already are. I thought they were all but dead already, like Lancia? Maybe fold Chrysler into Dodge, or use Peugeots and/or Citroens and rebadge them as Chryslers for the US?

The Renegade looks like a whale, when parked next to a Panda. The Fiat 500 (the small 2 door one) is based on the Panda.

That last corner, Arie Luydneuk

I do get your point, but to be honest you seem to be a bit of an outlier. Surely some people regularly move items you need to move with a forklift, but most people don’t.

Exactly.