Was gonna say,sales taxes and paperwork fees etc are all in the advertised prices in EU, they aren't in America. A vehicle advertises being 30000 euros in France for example? You won't pay a penny more, only external thing you pay is insurance. Vehicle advertised at 30000 dollars in the US? You wont pay a penny less once fees and taxes are all added. --- Post updated --- It's why I had to laugh at someone on this forum in Germany saying they were going to get a corvette having seen how cheap it was, yeah no, the US list price is low, it'll be at least double in Germany
So I stumbled upon a 2009 Cars of the World catalog, and in the publication, each brand/national branch had an infobox. Apart from the history and recent events in the brand's history, it showed their future plans. And this is where it gets interesting, because some of the models there didn't hit the market, or did hit it years after they predicted it. Without further ado, here are the non-existing cars, ordered as in the catalog: Skoda - 2010 - small hatchback and sedan (Rapid?), 7-seat minivan; 2011 - small wagon (Rapid?), small minivan (Roomster II?). Audi - 2011 - R5 coupe (sub-R8), 2012 - R5 roadster, R8 e-tron, 2013 - A-segment car, A2, Q1 (Q2?) BMW - 2011 - Z2, 2013 - 3-Series crossover, Ford Europe - 2010 - Fiesta convertible, electric Transit Connect; 2011 - Kuga coupe, Mondeo coupe; 2012 - Fiesta coupe (Puma), Maybach - 2010 - large coupe; 2011 - Maybach 51, Mercedes-Benz - 2012 - A-Class coupe, BLK, B-Class coupe, E-Class shooting brake, Opel - 2011 - large CUV; 2012 - C-Segment SUV, Porsche - 2011 - Panamera convertible; 2013 - sub-Boxster roadster, VW - 2011 - New Beetle roadster, other roadster, Up-based minivan, LWB Tiguan, Bugatti - 2010 - 1350 HP Veyron (444 km/h top speed); 2013 - sedan, Peugeot - 2010 - 608, Renault - 2010 - large SUV, Jaguar - 2013 - XF coupe, Lotus - 2009 - Evora roadster; 2010 - new Elise; 2012 - new Esprit, Alfa Romeo - 2010 - Junior (sports car or A-segment?), Spyder roadster, 8C GTA; 2011 - 169, crossover; 2012 - compact crossover, Ferrari - 2011 - crossover, Fiat - 2010 - Topolino (Seicento successor), 500 wagon (incl. 4x4 model), Uno (Punto successor), Idea Mk2, Stilo wagon; 2011 - Uno wagon, compact crossover; Lamborghini - 2011 - crossover, Lancia - 2011 - Musa successor, 2012 - Deltina (B-segment car) Maserati - 2010 - sub-GranTurismo coupe/roadster, wagon; 2011 - 5000GT (supercar); Tata - 2011 - Nano electric and hybrid, Lexus - 2010 - crossover (NX?), Mazda - 2010 - small crossover (CX-3?); 2012 - MX-2 roadster, RX-9, Mitsubishi - 2010 - new Galant, new Eclipse and Eclipse Spyder; 2011 - iMIEV Sport, new Lancer, Nissan - 2010 - new Silvia, Subaru - 2012 - hybrid car, Suzuki - 2010 - new Jimny, Toyota - 2010 - new Aygo (also in the US), 2012 - small electric car, Proton - 2010 - electric car, 2012 - new Persona, BYD - 2010 - F2 sedan, S3, S6, T3 and T6 SUVs, Zhonghua - 2010 - midsize sedan, luxury sedan, taxicab, Roewe - 2011 - SUV, Wuling - 2010 - small sedan, Hyundai - 2010 - compact minivan, Samsung - 2010 - minivan and SUV, Lada - 2011 - rebadged Logan, 2012 - 2105/2107 successor, rebadged Nissan Bluebird, Saab - 2010 - 9-1, 2012 - new 9-3, 2013 - 9-3 convertible, Volvo - 2010 - new S40, Chrysler - 2011 - PT Cruiser successor, Ford of USA - 2010 - new Ranger, 2012 - small electric hatchback, Jeep - 2011 - Fiat Panda-based SUV, Mercury - 2010 - new Monterey, 2011 - compact sedan, new Mariner.
I can only speak for Skoda the Small Hatchback did make it to the Market as the Skoda Rapid and Rapid Spaceback the Roomster 2 was axed maybe 2 months before release (Dieselgate) the minivan eventually got made into the Kodiaq and the small wagon never made it into production because the Rapid never sold well enough. Also for Audie the R8 e tron was made but in very limited numbers only.
I live in America and am looking for a relatively cheap, reliable highway cruiser with decent performance. Looking for suggestions - new or used. CVT's need not apply.
For highway cruising something on the larger side is best. The longer wheelbase will make it more stable and improve ride quality, the extra mass will also make it ride more smoothly. That Toyota V6 engine will make it reasonably quick to 60 too.
Cant agree more for example a VW Golf rides worse than a Skoda Octavia because of the longer wheelbase. @vmlinuz How much would you be willing to pay? Because maybe a american Barge like a Crown Vic would do the trick?
Fair. Which model year? The new Camry TRD is a bit out of my price range. Anywhere from $0-$28,000, although towards the upper end of that, I better get my money's worth. @skodakenner I would love to get an American barge someday, but the mileage is a bit crap, plus they tend to be in lousy shape used.
No idea. Whichever one has the features you want at a price you like. As mentioned above, there are also other cars that are worth considering. That was just the first one that came to my mind (because a modified version of that engine is used in the Lotus Evora). If you want something a bit more luxurious, a Genesis could be a good option. Used Infinity and Lexus models are also worth having a look at.
Anything with a Buick 3800. Once you fix the coolant lines running out of the water pump it is a decently reliable engine. My Regal gets almost 30 mpg on the highway and is the most comfortable car I have ever been in. Parts are cheap if something does go wrong and are easy-ish to replace for a FWD. Plus, you can often find Buicks for cheap in great shape because they are commonly owned by elderly people who rarely drive their cars and keep full service history.
So seems whoever was spouting about autobahn getting speed limit didn't give the full story. The green party proposed it, not the government. Sure enough in a bid to reduce emissions. It got formally rejected today.
THIS 100% The only real argument made against Hydrogen is that we currently "don't have" (We totally do) an efficient way to harvest it. Toyota does however, and it just proves that manufacturers like Ford and GM need to stop appealing to backwater morons and actually pony up some money. Don't care if you go bankrupt again GM, the fate of the damn world is literally in the palm of automaker's hands.
Hydrogen Fuel Cell electric vehicles are not as efficient as battery powered electric vehicles. As such you would need a lot more electricity generation in order to power them, plus factories to produce the fuel itself. As such, it would be more expensive to fuel and run a Hydrogen powered vehicle. However, I think the real reason they are not emphasised right now is that they are currently not convenient for consumers, consumer demand doesn't currently exist, and like you said, its not a developed technology in the same way that BEV's are. With that said, I think there is value in a mixed approach to road vehicle fuel sources. Since Hydrogen will make more sense for certain applications, while batteries will make more sense in others. Equally, both technologies being available to consumers is likely to increase competition and therefore investment in innovation. To provide some citation on the pricing, here is a table from The Sunday Times: ______________$99USD | $31USD | $83USD That £24/$31 is Tesla Supercharger pricing. For charging at home it would be £15.60/$20
I don't think Toyota has an efficient way, I think they just can't stop trying to make something efficient after blasting so much on hydrogen. --- Post updated --- I'd say that it will take a long time until hydrogen stops being a dead end.
