Why a continent with ever-smaller families is driving ever-bigger automobiles
-150, its American counterpart, is the mechanical equivalent of comparing a Chihuahua to a Great Dane. Both have four wheels and typically serve the same purpose: to ferry a single driver from one place to another. Beyond that they have little in common. The-150 weighs over two tonnes, twice as much as the lithe Peugeot. The driver in the American pickup truck sits a half-metre higher than the tarmac-scraping Frenchman in his family compact.
Europe’s cramped cars were a feature of its history, geography and economics. Whereas America was happy to remodel cities and suburbs to accommodate roomy Chevrolets, Europe stuck with its medieval streets and built its cars to fit . Having to import the bulk of its petrol meant European fuel duties were high, so wimpier engines were preferred. Americans drive vast distances for work and leisure; Europeans sometimes settle for buses, bikes and trains instead.
For decades the replacements of these pint-sized wheels kept their ethos. No longer. Sales of small cars in thes are up threefold. Ford’s triumphant stab at wooing Europeans with a small car, the Fiesta, will end a 47-year run this month. The Volkswagen Golf, a sensible starter car, is also said to be on its last wheels. When the names of past epochal models endure, such as the Fiat 500, Beetle or Mini, it is as a bloated version. The original Mini, launched in 1959, was worthy of the name.
In fact, reducing carbon is one reason why small cars are ailing. New technology to make petrol models comply with green rules is expensive whatever the car size: manufacturers find it easier to pass on the costs to buyers of pricey big models than cheaper small ones. Buying an electric vehicle often means plumping for a midsize ride, given how few good small European electric cars are on the market. Regulation has also crimped the appeal of poky motors.
Europe should look in the rear-view mirror and realise that it is losing a slice of its heritage, the very thing that made the continent what it is. Some of this is nostalgia, a remembrance of motoring past. Charlemagne grew up squabbling with his brother in the back of the family Mini as it navigated the streets of Paris. Later, a comically underpowered Peugeot 106 struggled to drag him and his new bride up hills in Portugal on their honeymoon.
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