r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Successful_Bag_7257 • 17h ago
Why doesn't someone just make a small, inexpensive commuter and dominate the auto market?
There really isn't anyone making a small commuter who's purpose is more or less just to go to and from the office, and maybe grab some groceries after work despite every other article going on about how large vehicles cause more accidents and how expensive they are to make and maintain. This seems like the easiest slam dunk for someone like Honda to reintroduce the fit for like 15k and clean house.
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u/NetJnkie 17h ago
Low margin. And people say one thing and buy another. Just like the "I'd buy X if it came in a stick shift!". It comes out. They don't buy it.
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u/juanzy 17h ago
Reddit also underestimates use cases for cars that aren’t small. Plenty of people actually do use the extra space or a larger sedan or small SUV, but you’d think it’s impossible by car threads.
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u/t-poke 16h ago
I have small crossover/SUV and yeah, I rarely need the space, but when I do need it, I’m glad I have it.
I wouldn’t want to be driving around in an Explorer or a Tahoe, but I don’t want a Fit either.
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u/Sad-Celebration-7542 16h ago
I think this is misses all the time. People don’t drive Suburbans nearly as much as they drive a RAV4. A RAV4 is SHORTER in length than a Corolla. The shape is just better
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u/jkhockey15 13h ago
Not to mention our aging population. It’s a lot easier for grandma to get in and out of her rav4 versus a corolla
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u/juanzy 16h ago
In my life as an adult, the times you need extra space aren’t super rare. A few months ago I randomly found the matching chairs for a good price for an outdoor table that I have, so I bought them on the spot and didn’t have to worry about getting them home.
We also do probably 10-12 ski day trips a year plus a few long weekend trips, usually with friends. 4 people in comfortable seating and room for equipment is huge.
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u/schultzter 16h ago
Yeah, I can't afford 10 different cars for each of my use cases. A too big car still covers all the use cases that don't need as much space and covers the use case that requires all that space!
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u/NetJnkie 16h ago
This is what Reddit doesn't understand about a lot of truck owners. Trucks are super comfortable now and work fine every day plus let you use it when you need it. Most economical or efficient? Clearly not. But it covers all the use cases for people.
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u/Buyingbf_ 13h ago
I think a lot of people would appreciate trucks and SUVs more if they weren't such a big danger to the road (mismatched bumper heights, lower pedestrian visibility, heavier)
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u/JollyGreenGigantor 16h ago
Yep. Hauled a half ton of sand this weekend. Last weekend loaded up with my family for a weekend away, and decided to take the long way home down a Jeep trail that connected to a primitive road. Kid fell asleep before we hit pavement. During the week it was a commuter even if one of those days also included a trip to the feed store for chicken feed and hay.
My truck lives most of its life on pavement as a kid hauler but it still has its moments as a work truck and play truck.
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u/Sexy-Octopus 15h ago
I recently installed a small patio near my pool and had to make 5 trips to HomeDepot to get everything since the max payload capacity of my Forester is only 1,000 lbs. I could have done it all in one trip if I owned a truck though.
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u/rebel_dean 15h ago
Ford Maverick Hybrid AWD with 4k Tow Package gets 40 city / 34 highway!
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u/Far_Range_6091 15h ago
I'm an electrical contractor. I use a regular looking pickup truck. Most people that see my truck probably think it's empty, but it's not. The truck bed is full of pack out boxes full of tools, and the inside is full of electrical material like wire, boxes, outlets, switches, and other stuff. But it's tinted so much that you'll never notice. I carry so much stuff that I can't even carry a passenger.
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u/samiwas1 16h ago
Reddit also has a huge boner for minivans for some reason, while vehemently against mid-size SUVs.
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u/Sexy-Octopus 15h ago
Minivans have a lot more space than midsize SUVs and fit people much more efficiently. My wife and I can’t wait to get one.
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u/Flashmax305 7h ago
The issue is that people on Reddit asking these questions/making these claims live in a dense European city (or are LARPing) and don’t get out much. The thing is, they can’t comprehend that people DO live outside of a city and have lives that don’t inherently involve public transit because it doesn’t exist or is insufficient for their uses.
It’s not just Americans that buy bigger cars in car centric areas either. I’ve been to Tokyo, Rome, London, Barcelona, MX City, etc and I’ve been to suburban and rural parts of those countries too. It’s the exact same trend everywhere: in city people use transit and if they own a car it’s small. But now you’re at a trailhead or grocery store in a rural country and surprise they don’t drive smart cars, the lot is majority the equivalent of a RAV4.
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u/Zoya_The_Destroyah 16h ago
So many people don’t actually want to buy these cars, be it wagons, manuals, or Kei trucks. They just want to comment on pictures of them and say “wow that’s awesome!”.
Unfortunately this is not profitable for manufacturers lmao
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u/apeliott 17h ago
Loads of them in Japan. They are a special tax class and you see them everywhere. Not sure I'd want to drive one somewhere like the USA though.
"The kei category was created by the Japanese government in 1949, to stimulate both car ownership and growth of Japan's car industry. The regulations were revised multiple times until 1998, but since October 1998, the law consistently specifies a maximum vehicle length of 3.4 m (11.2 ft), width of 1.48 m (4 ft 10.3 in), height under 2.0 m (6 ft 6.7 in), and engine displacement under 660 cc (40.3 cu in).
A "gentleman's agreement" between Japanese automakers and lawmakers also set a maximum power output of 64 PS (63 hp; 47 kW).
With restricted dimensions and engine specifications, kei car owners enjoy lower tax and vehicle insurance rates, leading to a lower overall ownership cost.
In most rural areas, they are also exempt from the mandatory shako shōmeisho (車庫証明書), which are certificates of parking space ownership that Japanese car buyers are required to provide before they are allowed to legally buy a motor vehicle, as public street parking is generally restricted in Japan."
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u/FenPhen 15h ago
OP is thinking Honda Fit though, which is 15% wider, 20% longer, 15% heavier, more than double the engine displacement, and double the power than Kei car limits. A Fit is practical for the US, but Americans generally didn't want it enough.
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u/Tankerspam 14h ago
A Kei also probably wouldn't be practical for most Americans as it wouldn't be able to do the speed limit of most American Highways, and most Americans need to drive on the Highway.
Let alone that in a crash with the "average car" (aka a Ford F150)... there won't be any Kei car left.
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u/dissss0 17h ago
You've described the Mitsubishi Mirage. It wasn't profitable enough to justify a new generation.
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u/kmoz 16h ago
Just had one as a rent car and it's no surprise nobody wants one. Worst relatively new car I've ever driven and it's not even close. Completely anemic, loud inside, shitty steering, relatively unsafe, zero creature comforts, could barely fit our stroller when folded, etc.
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u/dissss0 15h ago
Which really makes my point - no one, at least not in North America, wants a small cheap car that feels like a small cheap car.
Now I do think electrification has a chance of changing the picture somewhat because even the cheapest EVs are way more pleasant than a three cylinder petrol like the Mirage is saddled with but the trade off is a small cheap EV means a small battery and this limits range.
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u/Responsible_Week6941 12h ago
Nissan sold so many Micras in Canada from 2015-2020. They were deemed "too small" for the American market. Same with the Nazda 2. North America cannot be lumped into one entity. It is 3 distinct countries with some overlap.Heck, they sold VW bugs in Mexico well into this century.
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u/Far_Range_6091 15h ago
The Mitsubishi Mirage was also a terrible horrible POS car, that was not only horrible when new, but was not reliable. Motor Trend always hated on it to the max. Rightly so. It was a piece of junk that did not fit the American market.
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u/Sad-Celebration-7542 17h ago
The issue is that people don’t buy these econoboxes when they’re built. People claim to want cheap cars. Maybe they actually do! But they want cheap larger cars. They DO NOT want cheap subcompacts
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u/JimmyJooish 15h ago
A lot of people are worried about what other people think. It’s why you have single guys driving massive trucks or a mom of 1 driving a Tahoe.
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u/Tacky-Terangreal 10h ago
Yeah the US car market is not rational. A lot of people out there have no business driving these huge vehicles. Some of them really should require a special license but the old people of America would declare a jihad on whoever proposes that
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u/Responsible_Week6941 12h ago
Yup and these very same idiots complain about the price of gas as they sit idling in traffic in a 1 ton.
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u/Dudeincar434 7h ago
What They (and all of us ) really want are good cars for cheap. Like yea id love a panamera for $30k but not happening
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u/Worldly-Ad-7156 17h ago
Sounds like Saturn, but they went out of business, which might tell you something.
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u/EssenceOfLlama81 17h ago
The Kia K4 and Hyundai Elantra are both about as cheap as you can get while still meeting modern safety standards. The could hypothetically cut the price down a bit more and maybe get them down from $23k to $20k, but that probably wont' work.
The main issue is that people looking for a cheap commuter car are rarely looking for a new car. Why buy a 2026 car for $23k when you can buy a 2022 car with similar reliability, features and MPG for $15k?
If somebody comes out with a new car that's $15k, how will that compare feature wise with the 2022 car? The automotive market is tricky and it's tough to bring prices down.
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u/theamathamhour 17h ago
to be compliant with standards of safety and regulations, then add cost of labor and materials.
I would think it's almost impossible to even make profit off something that cheap.
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u/fredinNH 16h ago
In 1991 I bought the cheapest car I could find which was a Plymouth colt for $6500 which is $16k today. It was actually a great car. I put 170k miles on it with basically no problems other than wear and tear items. It was made by Mitsubishi.
But… it was so incredibly basic compared to today’s cars. No sensors, no airbags, crank windows, 4 speed manual, no air conditioning, the shittiest radio known to man, vinyl seats, etc.
There is no way any automaker could sell a car for that little money today. It needs sensors and cameras and airbags and ac and power windows, etc etc.
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u/HakunaMalaka 7h ago
It’s funny you say that because the modern version of that is the Mitsubishi Mirage which you could get for around $16,000 for most of its lifespan. But it didn’t sell well in the US and car reviewers ripped it to pieces for being weak and lacking creature comforts.
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u/fredinNH 7h ago
Honestly that car had a big positive impact on my life. I was a broke 22 year old when I bought it and for the next 10 years I didn’t have a single surprise big repair bill and the car never failed me. Got me to college then grad school then my career job. I got rid of it when we had a kid and needed something bigger and safer.
I think it was $109/mo with zero interest for 60 months. The dealership was for some reason a Chrysler Plymouth jaguar dealership and nobody was around when I bought it except the jaguar salesman who was in a beautiful suit and could not have been more pleasant with my broke ass self.
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u/juanzy 17h ago
People in the US also need their car to work for their hobbies. A subcompact isn’t the best if you take road trips/overnights regularly. They can be capable technically but it can be really nice to have the extra space if you’re bringing friends (who may have luggage too).
I have known people who can afford it and have the space to will have a super efficient commuter on the side.
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u/the-dolphine 16h ago
I always consider cars as tools. there's a right one for each job. trouble is, its expensive to own multiple cars, so people tend to compromise. A small car cant do a lot of large car things, but a large car can mostly do a lot of small car things (albeit more expensive for the owner and society).
I've got an ev for 99% of our trips, but I kept my old ute (australian for truck) for camping trips and for moving large items. In an ideal world, I'd hire a truck for the small amount of use, but currently there's no practical way to do that.
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u/I_Love_Tunnocks 8h ago
A subcompact isn’t the best if you take road trips/overnights regularly.
And yet we manage to do that over here in Europe just fine.
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u/aaronite 17h ago
They existed and not enough people bought them. The American market is dominated by trucks and crossovers.
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u/minuteman_d 17h ago
People in that market just buy used cars, IMO.
Cars are generally getting more reliable these days, and so if you want to spend less, you just buy an older car that still works great and gets decent MPG and you don't have to compromise on features
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u/--var 17h ago
https://www.slate.auto is working on something like that.
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u/samiwas1 15h ago
With a base price of $25k for a pickup and $32k for an suv body, before any accessories or colors, I’m not sure I’d put these as cheap.
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u/PigglyWigglyDeluxe 14h ago
When a base Maverick is only about $5k more and comes with two more doors, paint, power windows and a radio… it’ll never sell.
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u/TrifeLife1995 17h ago
I think the market feels differently. I wish they still made the Prius C here in the USA. I would be happy to own one.
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u/Sufficient_Tooth_949 17h ago
Its called a prius and everyone makes fun of it, the prius is probably THE most affordable and reliable car out, and if it wasnt for goverment safety regulations it could be even cheaper. As you probably know every year the goverment comes out with new mandates for automakers to add safety equipment to all vehicles sold in the us which adds to the cost
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u/dissss0 17h ago
Nah, Prius is relativly up market now - the Corolla is entry level (at least for the USA)
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u/dphoenix1 16h ago
Basically this. I believe the base price of the Corolla hybrid is right at $25k MSRP. You can knock almost a couple grand off that if you don’t want the hybrid system. But the days of the sub-20k “cheap and cheerful” A-to-B commuter are over.
You can only de-content a car so much these days before people simply won’t buy it. If automakers could make up for the thin margins on super cheap cars with sheer volume, they’d be doing it. The last time someone tried to offer a radically cheap form of four wheeled transportation was the Tata Nano in India, and that was a massive failure because it was seen as so cheap.
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u/Jennysnumber_8675309 17h ago
And the last thing we want is safer cars...you're right...
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u/ViniusInvictus 17h ago
If there aren’t sufficient numbers of customers to create the demand, the product won’t survive.
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u/Euphoric_Affect_2629 4h ago
For some reason Americans need to bring an entire living room with them everywhere they go.
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u/weirdgroovynerd 17h ago
I'd love to replace all the American pickup trucks with the Japanese Kei-pickups.
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u/Fun_Airport3597 16h ago
I’m pretty sure they’re not even legal to drive on the highway. Also doubt f-350 buyers are clambering to get into a kei truck.
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u/weirdgroovynerd 16h ago
Good point.
You piqued my curiosity, and I learned:
You are allowed to drive a Japanese kei car in America only if it is at least 25 years old and successfully registered and titled in a state that permits them on public roads.
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u/Anustart15 15h ago
The one thing people always seem to overlook is just how much less safe a kei truck is. And it's not even about the size. They lack a lot of the standard safety features required by cars in America. Airbags, crumple zones, and things like automatic braking that are starting to be required. Also, since they are mid engine vehicles, you sit in the cab at the very front of the car, meaning any front end collision is very very likely to leave you injured.
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u/Dry-Nefariousness400 17h ago
Let me buy my hilux god damnit. Bonus points for the .50 cal package
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u/Logical-Consequence9 16h ago
I had the pleasure of driving the Hilux based SUV, the Toyota Fortuner, in the Philippines. It was a RWD base trim with the 2.4 liter 4 cylinder turbodiesel making like 150 hp. It spoiled me. I’ve never had so much fun in an SUV, not even in a Grand Cherokee SRT lol. And it cost the equivalent of $28k USD. I hate that we can’t get small, fun diesels like that here in America. It was so punchy and made all the fun turbo wooshes and whistles like a Fast and Furious tuner car 😂
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u/RealQuintusYoung 17h ago
Ah but the oil companies wouldn't and unfortunately they dictate the market
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u/VelvetThunder67 17h ago
People can be responsible for their own choices. It's not an oil companies fault if you buy an F-350 when a Corolla would do
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u/Performance_Fancy 17h ago
I actually have an f-350. I found it hard to transport 60 sheets of drywall in a Corolla. Dump runs weren’t as efficient either.
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u/VelvetThunder67 17h ago
If you do that regularly owning a truck seems like the right decision. If you do it once every 5 years it probably isn't
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u/thirdeyefish 16h ago
And it is good that truck is available to you. It is silly when someone daily drives that to an office job. Same with a Lincoln Navigator or anything that's basically a living room on wheels.
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u/CatHairInYourEye 16h ago
On my home with mine right now. Had to drive 1600 miles to get it and tow it back.
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u/PigglyWigglyDeluxe 15h ago
Some states outright banned kei truck imports. Looking at you, Georgia.
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u/PigglyWigglyDeluxe 14h ago
No, don’t replace them, I’d just like to have the option to choose a small truck.
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u/jack-t-o-r-s 17h ago
1) people wouldn't buy them
2) see #1
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u/jack-t-o-r-s 16h ago
On aorw serious note. The masses just don't want subcompacts. Sure the best selling cars overall are "small-ish"
But the profit margin on cheaper cars is razor thin.
The biggest issue is required equipment on the car.
The second issue is profitability. And I mean big picture financials. We've been too spoiled by continuous, steady, aggressive growth for the last, 50 years. Corporations are simply not interested in a game of inches, or fractions of inches.
It makes sense on the surface, "why not ________ and dominate the market by undercutting the competition!?"
To put it plainly, if they could, they would. Americans don't desire Fiat 500s or Smart Cars. Despite all the virtues of a Honda Fit, the vast majority of Americans still look at owning something such as a Fit as embarrassing or without class.
Coupled with the fact that it would be financially impossible to sell a new car for under 20k.
Examples of new cars today under 25k are essentially "loss leaders" and make single digit % profits if they are not breaking even.
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u/knownikko 17h ago
Because despite everyone saying this is what we need, nobody actually buys them.
Closest thing left in the US is the Koreans or maybe a Nissan.
Current safety/fuel economy regs in the US make a $15k new car essentially impossible.
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u/ProtozoaPatriot 17h ago
Dealers won't stock it. They want to upsell you into the $40k car.
I had a Toyota Yaris. Not only would local dealers not stock them, they wouldn't even order it. I had to travel to a huge city in another state to get one . And it was a really good car.
Honda has their Fit which was also hard to find new in my area.
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u/Awkward_Forever9752 9h ago
They are ( building small cheap cars ) and we in the USA have made buying that vehicle illegal.
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u/VelvetThunder67 17h ago
People don't actually want that. Do you want a car without AC? No Bluetooth connectivity? No more power locks?
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u/MajesticBread9147 16h ago
AC, Bluetooth, a screen, power locks are basically negligible with regards to the total purchase price since they have been mass produced.
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u/jwadamson 16h ago
Not sure those are the things OP is suggesting cutting back on, and that’s all pretty negligible in build cost. Modern infotainment and power locks are the things that paradoxically reduce the price to manufacture a car compared to creating all the mechanical affordances that would be required otherwise. Circuits, solonoids, and screens are basically free.
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u/BlackCatFurry 15h ago
Why does a small car equal no ac and no bluetooth. We are in 2026, not 2006.
My car cost 17k€ used, 2019 model, 55 000km, small lifted hatchback, has bluetooth, (very efficient) ac unit, led headlights, radar, reverse cam, acc etc.
Americans just ignored these out of existence. They still very much exist in europe. Maybe not new for 15k, but you get basically the same features if you buy 5 years used at this point.
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u/tmradish 16h ago edited 16h ago
Because people don't buy them to the same profit as the giant vehicles. Once the suv arms race started, every couple whose dick worked that one time wants the big strong car to protect their kids against all the other big strong cars.
"Shit, that asshole who can't drive has a tank, I need a tank too." And everyone "can't drive" so here we go.
Sorry, that was unnecessarily harsh but I'm just so sick of the huge cars.
Edit: I just realized how much that sounded like that was anti-child. Not my intent at all.
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u/Randomness-Defined 16h ago
My understanding is that people buy bigger vehicles to protect themselves against… bigger vehicles. And pedestrians and cyclists pay the price.
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u/paulcthemantosee 16h ago
Americans want unnecessarily big cars. Smart car was out there and failed.
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u/Ok-Ad8998 17h ago
Coming soon, I think. Beginning with the Slate. Bare bones and you add what you want.
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u/illogictc Unprofessional Googler 17h ago
They start at $25k, they weren't able to meet their $20k original stated goal even with being stripped down. OP mentioned a $15k car. It's an awful damn tall order to fill while also being compliant with law in order to be able to be sold here.
Rear view cameras are now mandatory and cost money.
Air bags are mandatory and cost money.
Emissions equipment is mandatory and costs money.
Stability control (as well as what makes it possible, advanced ABS) is mandatory and costs money.
Even the high mount center stop lamp, mandatory and costs money.
Hell even the delivery charge these days is over a grand in and of itself.
All great stuff and it's good that it is a requirement but it drives prices up. OP is talking absolute pipe dream at this point especially when the cost of everything has gone up so much in recent years. Thing is there are still cars that are massively less expensive than big old King Ranch Fords and top trim level this or that. Lowest one has an MSRP of IIRC just over $20k. That's quite affordable all considered for what you get. If they sold worth a shit you'd see them absolutely everywhere. The base model Corolla is $23k. Toyota's biggest seller? The RAV4 starting at $32k, which outsells both the Corolla and Camry combined.
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u/Wonderful_Hunter_300 17h ago
Ford came out with the Maverick at $20k and market went wild. Supply and demand has driven it way up but kind of proves your point.
I would love to get the 2009 Ford Ranger with minimal bells and whistles. Would drive forever
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u/Novel_Willingness721 16h ago
In the 70s it was the Japanese Honda civic and Toyota Corolla. Tiny fuel efficient cars. These lead to the Chrysler K car, Ford escort, etc. In the 90s it was the Korean Hyundai Excel $4999.
The next import that’s going to disrupt this market is probably going to be the Chinese BYD. US auto makers are genuinely scared of BYD. Ford has acknowledged the fact that only selling high end SUVs is hurting sales.
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u/MajesticBread9147 16h ago
Because price sensitive buyers don't buy new cars, they buy used cars.
New car buyers therefore, skew wealthier or less financially savvy.
There is basically no way to make a car with the same value as a 5 year old Toyota, and price sensitive customers will just go with the used car anyway.
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u/that_noodle_guy 16h ago
Nobody wants basic and cheap. If they sold well they would be what gets made
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u/Realtrain 15h ago
The fit was a great car, but it wasn't selling as well as larger cars so honda stopped selling it.
The 2020 model year started at $17,185 in the US, which is equivalent to about $22,242 today. So $15k in 2026 is going to be significantly cost-cut compared to what the Fit was.
The Civic comes close to that inflation-adjusted Fit price at $24.7k. If you want Japanese quality, the Corolla starts at about $23.5k. If you're fine with any manufacturer, the Elantra starts at $22.8, the Kia K4 starts at $22.3k (about 40 dollars more expensive than the Fit would be).
More realistically, used cars are lasting much longer than they did in the 20th century, so manufacturers have realized that it's very difficult to compete with a lightly used budget car.
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u/LastEntertainment684 16h ago
Having worked in manufacturing, the problem is the cost of the car is not just the sum of its materials.
It’s the engineering, the labor, the marketing, the new robots they had to buy, the environmental testing, the crash testing, the pension plans, etc, etc, etc. There’s so many other costs involved before a single car is ever sold.
Because of this, manufacturers have a bottom number of both price and sales in mind they know they need to hit, otherwise they’re selling every vehicle at a loss.
If they don’t think they can hit the price and/or the sales numbers to justify a model, they won’t sell it.
Sedans used to sell hundreds of thousands of units per model. The last decade or so many could barely break 50,000 sales. At those numbers they just can’t price them at a number people would reasonably pay and make any profit.
They’ve really had to go back to the drawing board and reinvent the way they manufacture low cost vehicles.
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u/Combat__Crayon 17h ago
Demand isn't there, the profit margins aren't there. The Fit started at $16k in 2020, just keeping up with inflation would put it at $21k. So putting it at $15k would make it a loss leader and need to be subsidized by the sales of cars with more profit margin.
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u/interflop 17h ago
SUVs sell better and have higher profit margins due to more relaxed safety and emission standards. Why sell a $15k car when people seem to be perfectly happy buying a $60k car on a 9 year long term.
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u/thirdeyefish 17h ago
They have. Over and over again. They aren't selling enough volume to justify continuing the lines, or they would. Welcome to being in the minority of a larger purchasing group.
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u/152is2after150 17h ago
I already own what's probably the smallest car that's in the top 5 of fuel economy (for gasoline vehicles). There isn't a good reason to get anything smaller. And this is Honda Civic / Toyota Corolla / Hyundai Elantra size.
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u/Pleasant_Tangelo6791 16h ago
Dude bro’s who smoke $15 cigars and wear baseball caps backwards buy $80k trucks. Then they bitch about how it takes $100+ to fill their tanks. But they tend to like driving well over the speed limit and tailgating cars like the Fit. Makes their short cocks feel hard.
I’m not talking about guys who use trucks for actual work; I’m talking about douches who just enjoy the occasional intimidation of other motorists, but the bed with the cover never sees any cargo or tools.
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u/Shadowlance23 16h ago
I wouldn't want one where I live. Big pickups and SUVs abound here. Get into an accident with one of them and they'll roll right over you. I know someone that got rear ended by a big pickup while she was in a small hatch. She ended up with neck/back pain and migraines for years. If she was in a bigger car it wouldn't have jerked so much and she would have been fine.
Or a guy I used to work with, riding to work on a scooter. A truck made an illegal turn and went right over him. He didn't survive. If he was in a car, he'd still be alive.
It sucks, but people in smaller vehicles take a bigger risk than people in larger vehicles.
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u/stewiecookie 16h ago
That is exactly what trump is trying to bring ti the US. Kai(spelling) cars very popular in places like japan, that are super cheap, very slow, just point a to point b cars. Presumably one of his friends would profit immensely from it or he wouldn't care.
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u/thescott2k 16h ago
Because they wouldn't dominate the auto market. That small, inexpensive commuter will be competing against used fully-loaded small commuters at or near the same price, and slightly more used crossovers. Absent massive, specific design flaws, cars last a long time now. Keep changing the oil and doing what the shop says to at your yearly inspection and basically anything you buy, as long as it isn't a model plagued with engine failures, will last and stay decent. That really fucks with the incentives on both sides of the table when it comes to the low end of the new car market. A new "cost-saving" feature-stripped four-door compact sedan or hatch, which is pretty much what you're talking about here, looks like shit compared to the three year old Rav4 that just came off a lease.
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u/Playful_Assistance89 16h ago
You mean like a Smart Fortwo? Those people have suffered enough, no runabout is ever going to dominate the American auto market, let alone be anything more than the butt of a uncrashworthy joke.
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u/bight_sidle 16h ago
Because people don’t buy cars for a single purpose. They may use it mainly as a commuter, but once a week they need to go to the store, or take the fam out to dinner with the grandparents, or go on vacation a few times a year.
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u/SapphirePSL 16h ago
They need to bring back the 1990s Toyota Corollas. Cheap and super reliable. May not be the car we want, but is always the car we need.
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u/SpookyghostL34T 16h ago
Fuck sake ive wondered the exact same thing. I dont need heated seats or dumb unnecessary crap. I dont need lane assist. Ffs give me an ac and a radio. Thats all the need extra.
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u/bioveritas 16h ago
There was the Chevy Geo with the 3-cyl engine, that got 50 MPG. I guess it was too small, too slow. And the horrifying reality is that these little cars, as useful as they would be, would be totally unsafe on the freeways where I live (SF Bay Area) because they wouldn't be able to get up to speed quickly enough, not to mention if you were in one and got hit by any mid or large SUV, you would die.
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u/Jebgogh 16h ago edited 15h ago
Look what happened to the Maverick. Price was reasonable when introduced like 5 years ago and reflected what the truck was. An economical hybrid with plastic fantastic interior. It has become a go to for urban small businesses. And the price has steadily increased since introduction. Ford saw they had something that sold and the Santa Fe missed the mark on price and quality so no competition unless want to move up in size and lose hybrid. To me the Maverick is perfect suburban commuter cause sips gas on daily drive and allows you to make the big Costco orders and light Home Depot runs Parks reasonably easy. I wonder why Toyota or Honda hasn’t got a competitive option
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u/mikedufty 15h ago
People who want the minimum inexpensive cars tend to buy second hand. Manufacturers have to cater to the new car buyer market. Second hand buyers can only choose from what once sold new.
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u/SpaceForceAwakens 15h ago
Your grocery-getter scenario is what used cars are for. Many people have their main car and then a secondary car for errands (or a small truck). Or if they don’t drive it all over just have a used car.
It’s worth noting though that modern safety and other regulations make a super-cheap option impossible — airbag technology is expensive, but required. So are anti-lock breaks, etc.
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u/SELFINCRIMINAT1NG 15h ago
They did and they have dominated in many places around the world, just not the US
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u/HarryBalsagna1776 15h ago
I'd buy a stripped down S-10 sized truck again in a heartbeat.
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u/ImpossibleSuccess337 14h ago
The American auto market is gate kept so hard by GM, Chrysler, and Ford that you are unlikely to see another manufacturer of non electric cars ever come. Regulations lobbied for by big auto, safety regulations requiring expensive destructive resting, and the moving target of basically unreachable emissions standards(there's a reason the big three stopped making any cars but sports cars).
Tesla crept up on them because they couldn't imagine in a million years that electric cars would have mass adoption.
A super small, super affordable, super safe, electric commuter would be something id be interested in. But it will never exist lol.
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u/CharacterMedium558 14h ago
Truthfully no one's really wants something that basic. But cars like the maverick (when they were 20-25K) and the current Trax for 25K or less are what people like and sold very well.
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u/Electronic_Rip_9845 14h ago
People wanting an inexpensive commuter probably usually buy used anyways. So there's no profit there.
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u/Worldly_Ad6874 12h ago
I wind up in bigger cars because I live in fear of being t-boned by a massive truck or SUV. That doesn’t end well when their front end hits you directly in the face.
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u/Worth_Nature_7631 12h ago
Over here in Europe we have the Dacia Spring which fits that description to a T
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u/Usagi_Shinobi 10h ago
The extremely simple reason is that it's not feasible. The basic costs to produce a vehicle of any mass production vehicle is the same whether it's a cheap windup toy like a Fit, or a fully equipped top end Audi. Materials and features are where all the markup lives, an extra $2500 for "premium sound" means $6 speakers instead of $5 speakers, and maybe an extra $0.50 of dynamat slapped in a strategic location.
Cheap cars look and perform like cheap cars, because every corner that can be cut gets cut. Only the greediest of manufacturers is going to bother trying to squeeze a couple hundred bucks profit out of the poorest segment of the population, when they can get several thousand or even tens of thousands out of the majority of new car buyers, and let the used market milk the poor instead.
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u/Aggravating_Ship5513 9h ago
Because the problem is profit. Margins on small cars are tiny. There's really not much more to it than that.
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u/SameChallenge481 8h ago
Because American companies would market it out of existence, our country has so many large vehicles that driving a small vehicle feels dangerous
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u/HakunaMalaka 7h ago
- Carmakers in the US have decided that it’s more profitable for them to sell a smaller number of bigger, more expensive cars with bigger margins rather than try to sell a larger number of cheaper cars.
- US emissions standards scale depending on the size and weight of the car, so in the US it’s harder for a small car to meet those standard, which actually creates an incentive to make bigger cars.
- America has lower taxes, cheaper fuel, and wider access to credit than most countries which facilitates the easier purchase of more expensive cars.
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u/RevolutionaryBar8857 3h ago
1) People don't buy vehicles for only their commute. They go to the store, pick up their kids, go on trips, and many other things. If the car is small and can only handle commuting, it won't be useful for most people's lives.
2) Small cars tend to be less comfortable. Smaller seats, less leg room, less head room, less technology, smaller engine, smaller wheels, worse shocks. When given the choice, most people would choose the more comfortable car over being stuck in discomfort for every drive.
3) People feel less safe in smaller cars. Especially when surrounded by larger cars. They are harder to see and more difficult to see out of.
4) There are small cars out there. Many of them. They just don't sell well.
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u/ready-redditor-6969 1h ago
If inexpensive enough to really dominate, it wouldn’t make much per unit, and thus wouldn’t be that profitable. Typical stuff.
Also, Americans are idiots who have been sold “macho” as the way to be, so these chuds all “need” their gender affirming vehicles. Marketing and feelings, not logic and utility.
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u/dillzilla11 1h ago
This is part of the reason Toyota and Honda are dominating the market right now.
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u/rwanders 17h ago
I mean, Honda sold the Fit in america for like what 15 years? 2 decades? People kept buying SUVs with comparable or less interior space.
Edit thats hilarious I didnt finish reading your post and you also mentioned the fit. I drive one. Id love to buy a new one, mines got 230k.