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Comment by echelon | Hacker News Reader

American consumers want expensive and big cars, not cheap and tiny cars.

BYD margins in America would be razor thin.

BYD is going to kill in developing and emerging markets, but it doesn't stand a chance in the American SUV / truck / sports car market. It'll also push America out of international markets, but it won't be able to edge into American consumer markets.

It's not big auto that's the problem. It's the American consumer.

US automotive regulations have pushed for lighter, smaller, more fuel efficient coupes. Yet people keep buying the big and heavy trucks and SUVs.

It's cultural.

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It is not cultural, the automotive manufacturers PUSH(1) for people to buy expensive and big cars because it makes them a lot more money.

Americans DO want cheap small and fuel efficient cars, but they are actually MORE expensive due to the government regulations and guess what? The "big expensive" cars have much looser regulations due to being classified as trucks. There are several articles and youtube videos about this topic, it is very well explored and nothing is being done about it.

1: Advertising, 'discounts', bonuses, 'free' accessories, loans.

if a new base model nissan versa was $40k and an F150 was $18k, then maybe I could agree with that. of course I don't even need to point out the reverse is true.

auto manufacturer lobbyists may have been successful at convincing the government to incentivize the production of more expensive, more profitable vehicles, but it's not like there aren't still cheap small cars that everyone knows about and would fulfill 90% of people's needs for half the money, yet they spend on average $50k for a 4,000lb SUV, to never carry more than 4 people and some groceries.

maybe lobbying got the price of SUVs down 10% relative to smaller cars, and sure some people considering a smaller car might upsize because of that. but I don't think it's possible to discount the cultural component when you look at what people in the US buy. and if people fall for that because of advertising, that's essentially cultural.

Sure, go ahead try to buy a 18k nissan and see how well that goes. I asked a friend that lives in the US and he said: "in your dreams lmao".

BYD makes a pickup truck (the BYD Shark) and SUVs (though none as large as a Tahoe or Suburban - yet)

The BYD Yangwang U8, a giant luxury SUV, is up there in size. They could easily build a gonzo pickup truck, but there's little market for those outside the US.

The Chinese people love big cars. A small car there is a poor person car. They sell well because China is still poorer than the US, but sales are shifting to larger cars rapidly.

Wrong. American car choice has everything to do with government subsidies, car safety standards and fuel standards. Consumer choice doesn’t matter in the US Auto market.

Look at what consumers buy. You can't dispute the actual sales data.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/g64457986/bestselling-cars...

It's trucks and SUVs.

It doesn't matter if regulations favor small and fuel efficient. That's not what consumers buy. In fact, they flock to the exact opposite.

Occam's razor here is that American auto isn't stupid. It's just building what the consumers want.

American preferences don't match that of the broader world.

You are missing the point. I don’t dispute the sales data, I agree with it, it supports my point. It’s not out of preference, it’s enforced by regulations and encouraged by the tax code.

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/24139147/suvs-trucks-popu...

There are plenty of cheaper cars people can buy, but they're not buying them.

But large cars are not cheap - they're significantly more expensive than the small cars available on the market.

Consumers aren't buying trucks because they're incentivized with money - because the truck is double the cost. Theyre buying trucks because they want them.

Does that make American consumers stupid? Yeah probably.

Id sooner blame marketing and advertising than regulations and tax codes. The reality is that when these gas guzzlers are priced outrageously, Americans still want them.

Sealion, Atto 3, M6, Tang, even Seal, are not small, let alone tiny, cars.

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