• NarrativeBear@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    172
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    8 months ago

    This video here explains one of the issues one minute in. Definitely worth a watch.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh4H9qZ-_6Y&t=55

    The way car companies are working around this legislation is why it’s so hard to find and buy smaller sized cars (like smart cars) even if there is demand. It also makes our community less safe for pedestrian traffic.

    • telllos@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      72
      ·
      8 months ago

      The sad part is that Europe is seeing a lot of SUVs too. Not as big as whzt we see in the US. But they are there. We also start seeing american style pick up trucks. Luckily, people pay more taxes for these kind of cars.

      • Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        26
        ·
        8 months ago

        In Switzerland there was apparently some kind of loophole in the tax system which allowed you to register your pickup truck as a company vehicle (and pay less) even when you don’t have any company or if you are just working as a hairdresser…

        • bearwithastick@feddit.ch
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          15
          ·
          8 months ago

          I fucking hate these piece of shit cars. I will never not think that they all have to compensate for something.

          • wmassingham@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            7
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            8 months ago

            Pickup trucks are fine. It’s the huge ones with giant cabs and useless beds that are just a fashion accessory.

            “But muh work tools”, yeah just get a sprinter van like normal people. You can fit more, and you can close and lock it so your shit doesn’t get stolen out of the bed.

            • Nfamwap@lemmy.world
              cake
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              3
              arrow-down
              2
              ·
              8 months ago

              Sometimes it’s down to more than what the vehicle can carry, but what the vehicle can tow. A pickup with a 3.5 tonne towing capacity might be a far more useful vehicle than a van that can only pull 1 tonne for example.

              • wmassingham@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                9
                ·
                8 months ago

                Maybe, but the same “work pickups” you see everywhere also aren’t towing anything.

                But the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Van has a towing capacity of 5000-7500 pounds, or 2.5-3.75 tons, depending on configuration. That’s the same range as most medium pickups.

                • Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  ·
                  8 months ago

                  Large vans are often made on the same chassis as trucks, so they have the same transmission and maybe a slightly reduced towing capacity

                • Nfamwap@lemmy.world
                  cake
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  arrow-down
                  1
                  ·
                  8 months ago

                  I’m not decrying the abilities of a big van, I drive a 3.5 tonne Transit for work and love it. But we are comparing apples with oranges. I have a friend who owns a Nissan Navara. During the week it is onsite, dragging machinery around building sites. At the weekend it is a family car, taking the kids out etc.

                  I do admit though, not all pickups are used in this way and my mate is probably in the minority where he has a genuine need for a vehicle that can handle the extremes of work life and home life.

                  • wmassingham@lemmy.world
                    link
                    fedilink
                    English
                    arrow-up
                    2
                    ·
                    8 months ago

                    Yeah, and if you’re going to use one vehicle for both, that makes sense. Personally I wouldn’t use my personal vehicle for work like that, because if it gets wrecked somehow, my insurance won’t cover it, and I’d be out of a car until I fight the company’s insurance enough to get something out of them. But that might be a US thing.

          • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            8 months ago

            100%, you drive a vehicle like that and you are just screaming to the void “don’t look at my small penis and/or small paycheck”.

        • br3d@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          9
          ·
          8 months ago

          Same in the UK. Very curious how all over the world, governments created exactly the same tax loophole. I can’t think which highly resourced industry might have been involved in “advising” them

          • Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            5
            ·
            8 months ago

            At least in Switzerland, people were really using them for work until a few days ago.

            It was only farmers, carpenters or builders until it became a trend.

            I guess the law was okay before but they never thought that someone would want to have such a huge vehicle just to get groceries 😅

      • Damage
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        11
        ·
        edit-2
        8 months ago

        They’re so fucking stupid. Worse in every way compared to normal cars, but they make idiots feel important, and car makers seem to prefer them.

        Ford fucking discontinued the C-Max, a great car in my opinion, and replaced it with… Nothing? The Puma? It’s way smaller, while the Kuga is more expensive.

        Oh and by the way, most of these SUVs are 2WD so they ridiculous in any kind of non-optimal road, let alone off the road.

        • ililiililiililiilili@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          8 months ago

          The margins are why car makers prefer them. Crossovers are cheap to make, have fewer emission regulations, and they conveniently sell for higher prices.

    • scarabic@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      8 months ago

      I can’t stand those idiot trucks that have a chopped-in-half rear bed so they can cram in an undersized back seat.

      A truck is for moving shit. If you can’t fit a sheet of plywood in the back of your truck, your truck is a candy ass piece of crap powered by 100% small dick energy.