There are a lot of small cars in European big cities as it is difficult to find parking space for an "american sized" car.
The sedans which Americans thinks of as "small car", we think of "too big car for the city".
Once we arrived in Chicago I kind of started to sweat because I'm used to European city parking spots. How many times will have to retry to park this huge car, but to my surprise the parking spaces are also huge.
Chevy makes the Aveo.
You can still buy a Smart car here.
The mini is quite popular.
There is absolutely a segment for compact cars in the US, it's just nowhere near as large because most people spend time on the highway and don't feel as safe being surrounded by larger cars and OTR trucks.
The only local roads are littered with stop signs or red lights at every goddamn intersection and then some speed bumps. It's either the highway or the obstacle course.
I do have a electric scooter (max 40 km/h, so can only stick to local roads) which I use for <5km trips and and I can definitely say those stop signs cut my battery range by a factor of 2 or 3.
So in a world where there are SUVs driving around, buying an SUV for yourself instead of a car is a safer move.
Just think about getting t-boned in an intersection. Would you rather be in a light, low vehicle or in a heavy, tall vehicle? I'd pick the latter, especially if the vehicle t-boning me is tall and its bumper at the height of my head if I were in a small car.
[0]: https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2013/05/suvs-are-sa...
That sounds like the same kind of circular reasoning that's often cited to oppose any gun regulation: "When everybody has a gun, you also need a gun to stay safe!".
No one having a big car is an unstable equilibrium.
If you lived somewhere where all the cars were small, both vehicles would be better off, because there would be much less energy in the collision.
SUV's aren't safer, they're more dangerous to other people. and that shouldn't be OK.
Small cars became very popular in the late 70’s and early 80’s in the US due to gas shortages. They gradually died out as gas prices came back down.
Go look at car sizes in the 1950’s and 1960’s in the US. Compare that to car sizes in Europe as it recovered from WW2. Think Cadillac boat like cars vs the Mini.
Also, cars are essential transportation in parts of the US and raising gas prices would/have result(ed) in a lot of protesting. In fact, high gas prices would be seen as regressive.
Volkswagen and the Japanese auto companies filled this role in the 60s, 70s and 80s. In the 90s foreign vehicles started on the same obesity trajectory, 2nd born generation regresses to the mean.
For example, a subcompact Ford in the US might get 35mpg, vs 33mpg for the next size class up. The two cars cost about the same.
In Europe, Ford will sell the same subcompact body style with a smaller engine, and maybe a diesel, and it’ll get 50+ mpg.
No one buys the tiny gas guzzler, in the US and then Ford execs claim there’s no market for fuel efficient cars in the US.
It was this way 5-10 years ago; maybe it changed since then.
Europeans don't seem anymore excited about taking what I'd call "city cars" on the highway than Americans are. That being said: I think far more Europeans can spend almost all their time in their local city and don't NEED to get on a highway with large trucks and vehicles. In the US that's basically unheard of unless you're in a large city. I'm sure during holiday the roads look quite different than a regular workday.
I'm guessing if you compared New York to most of Europe you'd see similar numbers, public transit and city layout in the rest of the US basically makes that impossible.
I've wondered what it would be like if there were cities with tight, maybe even exclusionary urban areas. "you must be less than this big to enter downtown"
There are some cities in Florida where retired people can drive golf carts, and it has become very popular.
The US has a strange obsession with massive cars.
However it was not the european style small cars I ment when I referred to small cars but rather the 4000 USD electric cars, the article is refering to. Those you do not see in Europe at present.
In fact, the only Chinese EVs I have seen are the MG ZS EV and Volvo Polestar - both big cars.
The small electrics are things like the VW Up electric and the Fiat 500 electric, both European.
It's not strange... it's survival (plus federal regulations about crash safety, bumper height) require the size vehicles I'm used to here. (The SUV thing is just crazy, though)
It is not unusual in the USA on a road trip (vacation) to drive 1000 km/day (or more) at 120+ kph.
How is something smaller than a 1999 Honda Civic (1100kg) going to safely share the road with 40000 kg Tractor-Trailer rigs?
Here's the smallest car I ever owned... it was silver, with a hatchback... I loved that car, and miss it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Civic_(sixth_generation)
It is true that generally people don't tend to drive as long distances in Europe as they do in the US, but it's not unheard of to drive 1000km on holiday. It's not as if everyone in Europe spends their lives pootling around cobble-stoned towns in Fiat 500s with a crusty baguette sticking out the window. There are large highways and plenty of heavy traffic.
I think the difference is that people in Europe tend not use their oversized vehicles as daily drivers. Many people don't even own a large car at all, preferring to rent or borrow one for specifically when they do go on holiday. Driving a large car seems like less of a status symbol in Europe. I don't buy that it's a safety thing for Americans, when most Americans are just driving their SUVs to the shops or to work every day.
In my mind, that conjures up a 1972 Buick Electra Station Wagon. They are 2320 Kg, more than 2 of the 1999 Honda Civic.
https://www.automobile-catalog.com/make/buick/full-size_buic...
SUVs in the US are out of hand, I totally agree with that. I thought you were saying that our Sedans are huge.
It would be interesting to see if the move toward larger cars in general has been offset by the increase of "sub-car" vehicles like electric tuk-tuks, e-bikes and so on.
[0] https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/features/investigation-wh...
To Europeans used to small, cramped spaces - the great open roads and huge comfy cars of America are much appreciated.
I actively avoid driving in the UK. I adore driving in the US.
edit: Downvoting an outside perspective, how very Reddit!
If the car you ended up getting was large, as implied, I'd be interested in looking at how sh!te the small car must have been.
https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/167786-2014-chevrolet-cr...
Here you go. I can persoanlly attest that the diesel Chevy cruze easily gets 45-50 mpg. I also paid less for it than a smart car.
Like I said, I was not opposed to it, but I'm not spending more for a smaller car that is more fuel inefficient.
But I don't accept the smart fortwo as a typical small car.
If those are its numbers, then its a horrible car, both in terms of mpg and everyday practical use. It looks good as a quick city run around and that's it.
In Europe, a typical small car might be a Toyotal Yaris or Peugeot 208, both hitting 70-90mpg
https://www.carbuyer.co.uk/reviews/toyota/yaris/hybrid/14351...
Yeah that was why I had that disappointment, I was expecting gas milages closer to what you said. If I could get a car like that in the States, that would be awesome. I would love to get a car that gets 70-90 mpg.