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[flying ^]

Originally Posted by sneaker

And U.S. cars don't sell at all in Europe

guess who are the parent companies of these brands:

mazda
jaguar
voxhall
holden
opel

Ford and GM

[sneaker]

Yes, but these are mostly developed in Europe and for the European market, not what I'd call "US cars", just because their parent's headquarters lies in the US.

Originally Posted by GundamFan0083

I've a question.
How do Jeeps fair in the European market?
I'm curious to know.

I couldn't find any numbers for Jeep alone, but Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep had a combined market share for new cars in Germany of about 0.2 % in 2009.

[Bri]

Originally Posted by GundamFan0083

I've a question.
How do Jeeps fair in the European market?
I'm curious to know.

Quite poorly, they sold about 15,000 total in Europe in 2010, altough Fiat plans to expand the brand again in the coming years. They have announced some new diesel versions which should help sales. Those engines are essential if you want to compete in big off-roaders/SUVs in Europe.

[flying ^]

Originally Posted by FatPianoBoy

Mercedes hasn't made a decent car since the early 90's. The ones made before that were some of the best cars ever made, though.

I say Merc didn't slip in quality.... Japanese brands such as Lexus and Acura simply took quality to the next level and showed glaring differences in quality between euro and japanese brands.


show me a BMW 7er and Merc S in the early/mid 90s that can pull this trick

[FatPianoBoy]

Show me a Lexus with over 260k miles on it that still runs like it just drove off the lot. Mine has God knows how many miles (the odometer hasn't moved since 370k) and it sounds just as good.

[GundamFan0083]

Originally Posted by sneaker

I couldn't find any numbers for Jeep alone, but Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep had a combined market share for new cars in Germany of about 0.2 % in 2009.

Yikes! That bad huh.

Originally Posted by Bri

Quite poorly, they sold about 15,000 total in Europe in 2010, altough Fiat plans to expand the brand again in the coming years. They have announced some new diesel versions which should help sales. Those engines are essential if you want to compete in big off-roaders/SUVs in Europe.

I guess Land Rover probably has the lion's share of the off-roader market in Europe.
Then again, I'm not familiar with the European off-road market so I don't know.

Thank you both for informing me of how badly Jeep does overseas.

[Ithekro]

It was surprising when we finally did so an old American car in Scotland. It was huge compared to just about everything else there. There were some older model 1950s and 1960s cars on the road still. But seeing as how most parking lots have small closed rectacles you have to fit into (as oppose to the American open ended slot) I would find it difficult to park, since I still drive a 1972 vintage Dodge Dart.

(Though I learned to drive with a 1976 vintage Fleetwood Cadillac...because if you can get that monster into places, you can get anything into places. Plus for a young drivers...Armor is a plus...or American steel verses plastic and composites).

[ganbaru]

Syria government approves lifting 48-year emergency rule
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...72N2MC20110419
Is it me or 48 years is a bit long for keeping emergency rule ?

[Ithekro]

Or just too long to call it an emergency rule.

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

Plus for a young drivers...Armor is a plus...or American steel verses plastic and composites).

Modern cars really are much safer though. Granted a 1976 car should perform somewhat better there than a 59 for that same reason.

[Ithekro]

Head ons yes. I'm thinking more common accidents that young drivers get into. Most of those will render a newer car as "totalled" or require the replacement of large sections of the car. Similar impacts will leave a dent in the metal car (I've experianced this first hand). A 70s five mile per hour bumper verse a 2000 era pickup truck. The truck hits the 70s era car from behind. The rear bumper has a new dent and may have compressed a centimeter in total, and had the lower part of its rubber strips removed. The modern truck's bumper has completely fallen off the truck. I do not know the cost the truck will need to repair or replace the bumper. The 70s era car did not actually need any repairs, but had them anyway. The cost was high, but only due to shipping and enviromental laws and regulations within the State of California limiting the use of chrome for the bumper within the state. The actual job outside of the chrome part was minimal and could probably have been done at home with a hammer and a bean bag. The rubber strips, while not common anymore due to the age of the car, were still cheap.

[flying ^]

Originally Posted by FatPianoBoy

Show me a Lexus with over 260k miles on it that still runs like it just drove off the lot.

http://www.edmunds.com/lexus/ls-400/...ewId=192781741
http://www.edmunds.com/lexus/ls-400/...viewId=5068264
http://www.edmunds.com/lexus/ls-400/...viewId=5621861
http://www.edmunds.com/lexus/ls-400/...viewId=5070824


that's if we go by the word of these owners...

[GundamFan0083]

You two just reminded me of a great "demotivational" poster:



Not sure about other modern cars, but the "Smartcar" doesn't seem very smart to me.



Compare with a modern Jeep:

[Vexx]

Any time you mix "light" and "heavy" it isn't going to go well.... more trains, fewer 18wheelers? (that's going to happen naturally if gas/diesel hits $5/gal in the US anyway).

[Solace]

I'm not sure how you can consider that a fair comparison. Of course a smaller car is going to fare worse than a larger one, especially in the pictures you've posted. Ever see a train obliterate a semi?

[GundamFan0083]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Any time you mix "light" and "heavy" it isn't going to go well.... more trains, fewer 18wheelers? (that's going to happen naturally if gas/diesel hits $5/gal in the US anyway).

I agree in part.
Interstate transport of goods will most certainly diminish is disel hits $5.00/gal (or higher) across the country.
Out here it's still only $4.00/gal (yeah I know, ONLY! ), and I expect semi-s to become more intrastate (for large states like California, Texas, etc.) or adjacent state transports than cross country interstate vehicles as they are now.
They may even get totally phased out in the future as UPS style cube trucks start running on natural gas and other cheaper fuels.

Originally Posted by Solace

I'm not sure how you can consider that a fair comparison. Of course a smaller car is going to fare worse than a larger one, especially in the pictures you've posted. Ever see a train obliterate a semi?

Yes, and it's not pretty what happens to the semi.
However, the point is that a Smartcar gets completely totalled by a semi (and is thus a death trap) when they get into an accident, as opposed to other larger vehicles that stand a higher chance of keeping your tush alive.

I chose a semi-tractor trailer over a train for the simple reasons that a train isn't on the highways and byways of most states, and they are very common on the roads, especially out here in the Western states.

Therefore the comparison is between a very common off-road SUV (which is on the smallish side for 4x4s) and the smallest modern car currently available, the smartcar.

Here's a video that shows just how dangerous the smartcar really is, and that's the point I'm trying to make here:

Smartcar verses Mercedes C300:

Not pretty.

[Solace]

That's a bit more reasonable, and I see your point. In a strict test of physics, large cars win. More area to absorb impact, more crush area, more room for more safety gadgets, sheer weight, more reinforcement, etc. However as the Malibu vs Bel Air video shows, this isn't strictly true, as newer cars are simply better designed. I'd feel safer in a new Honda Fit than I would in a Ford Pinto.

I'm not disagreeing that all things "being equal", simple physics proves that point. But a good, alert driver will often make a bigger difference in a dangerous situation than any safety design a vehicle can have. Human error is the primary cause of most accidents anyway, something researchers are working to remove or minimize, for example:

[MrTerrorist]

To all Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventure fans, i am sad to inform you that Elisabeth Sladen, the actress who played Sarah Jane Smith, has passed away from cancer.....


Goodbye Sarah Jane.

Doctor Who actress Elisabeth Sladen dies

[SaintessHeart]

As usual in the Middle East......

Killers of Italian activist die in Gaza raid: Hamas

If they aren't terrorising Israel civilians, they are terrorising their own. Sometimes I wonder if they are idiots or mentally-handicapped to fight amongst themselves like this.

[ganbaru]

Anti-bomb plan for Pentagon annex posted online
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...73I6KK20110419
Another mistake...