Kenat, good link.
The fig 2 commentary says:
This suggests that fuel taxes could increase significantly without reducing North American economic competitiveness.
This is quite obviously a nonsense.
If the only factor affecting economic competitiveness were fuel costs it could be true. But if it were true then the other countries quoted would have had to take action to restore their own competitiveness. Indeed, market forces would have forced a levelling out of fuel prices within western economies some decades ago.
Fig 3 tells a story that says where you have long distances to drive, high tax burdens cannot be sustained. It is less about economic competitiveness probably than domestic driving issues.
Sid7:
Competition in the global market is inevitable and so the affordable prices as a result. So would you be happy to see the car prices lowered or not?
Ah but it isn't a global market, is it?
Note how standards vary from one country to another such that the Car you buyin the Uk has a different set of brakes, lights etc than the version you buy in the US and look what the US lighting requirements did to the E-type design.
Each market enjoys some protection and the success of Japan over the years in blocking foreign car sales while selling its own cars worldwide shows how the game can be played.
I suspect there is no danger of the Tata (thanks Sid7) being sold into any of the "protected" markets any time soon. Anyway, if this car did reach the UK, say, then you can bet it would carry at least a £7-8k price tag.
This is a car for the domestic market. It should be judged as such.
It must represent a significant advance on all those heavy Morris Oxfords, Cambridges etc with their primitive brakes and well suited to the domestic market in terms of cost of ownership, maintenance etc..
I hesitate to suggest it will create a vast expansion in fuel use when in fact it may displace some old and inefficient gas guzzling museum pieces.
I also doubt that a significant proportion of the road system would sustain high speed driving or if it did, safety might probably be expected to be better than currently, except that driving would appear to be conducted with greater regard for karma than hydraulic dual circuit power assisted disc brakes or whether they work or not (this is the only country in the world where my wife managed to have a proper wreck, and woke up in hospital as a result, despite the competition from a fair selection of the East Block countries, Turkey, Iran and Iraq. She had made the drive from Berlin in a VW Thing. Pretty adventurous huh? or just her lousy map reading and she was really headed for Potsdam? I dare not ask, this was before we met.)
PS,
Corus,
Smart cars not for you?
Come on, these are a funky Mercedes built in Munich aren't they? and they fairly zip along the motorways (at above the legal limit).
I quite like them but I am not sure I'd fit in one and I suspect that I'd destroy the Power to weight ratio anyway.
JMW
