Fully agree, they've been to small for years, but there's a minimum they have to be made to and almost everyone builds to that spec, but Lidl are doing bigger ones through choice. Hopefully more companies follow, but I doubt it.
I think all Aldi stores are getting redone at least all the ones close to me have been, same with coops. The bigger supermarket stores anyway not the tiny village shops.
It's probably true that the standard parking space size is no longer fit for purpose, but we do need to address the problem that having more and more cars and making them bigger and bigger is not sustainable. You are always going to keep running out of room whether it's supermarket car parks, capacity on the roads, or residential parking. I find the trend in recent years of everyone getting SUVs quite disappointing.
You could ask why did ford drop the fiesta model, no 1 best seller and focus (see what I did here) on models like the kuga and other Suv type vehicles.
The Fiesta wasn't their best seller, the Puma overtook it, in fact it dropped out of the top ten best selling cars in the UK.
There's sort of been an iPhone-ification of the car industry. They've successfully made it uncool in a lot of people's eyes to have a smaller or an older car, and convinced many people that having a massive SUV they can't really afford is the norm, and that it's expected of them to finance it in order to have one. Obviously car enthusiasts have always existed, but they've convinced average people with no special interest in cars that they need to be seen in certain vehicles. Much the same as how people with no real interest in tech and no need for a high-end device were convinced that they needed to have iPhones.
Some years ago I attended a seminar about marketing and the speaker gave this example (the numbers were approximations) a Fiesta sells for 10k a focus is 20k and a mondeo is 30k. It doesn't cost 3 times as much to build a mondeo but there is a much bigger profit margin. It's why all manufacturers have a luxury line of models and why companies that only build small and cheap go bust.
Car enthusiasts dont want suvs Theyre terrible **** vehicles But like you say Theyre seen as 'status' Im hoping to get a na mx5 miata
Nothing lasts forever, otherwise we'd all still be driving round in Cortina's. There was no profit in them, they were still built in Germany and the starter car market got more and more competitive, the Fiesta factory has been repurposed to full EV production now.
I love my suv. I’m frequently carrying a lot of, or large cargo. The space works perfectly and the layout is much better than an estate with it being wider and taller. The boot entrance and level boot floor as well as the much higher load capacity also means I can zip a pallet straight in and out of the boot with a forklift so I no longer need or have a van for work. I don’t have a drive, and an suv isn’t the length of an ocean liner. In fact it’s only 100mm longer than my previous car (vw scirocco) so it’s almost as easy to parallel park on the street and fit into tighter spaces. I also go off the beaten track and over a lot of very rugged ground around the Peak District, snowdonia, Lake District etc where the height is an absolute god send for clearance driving over ruts, potholes, rocks in the road etc And it returns 60-70 mpg rural driving. Can’t do any of that in a **** fiat panda.
Me too (very similar anyway) I have a smaller vehicle (but big enough to fit golf clubs and a golf trolley in without having to take any clubs out) and Mrs Tash has an SUV Dogs, grandkids, tip runs, dales…and just driving round normal pothole infested roads! Mind you we’ve already established because we’re both vegan we’re allowed to drive SUVs and fly away on holiday a lot. That’s just how it is…I don’t make the rules.
Hmm debatable, I class myself as a huge car enthusiast and drive just for the fun of it. But my day to day car is an X3. I was very anti SUV until I actually had one, compared to the 5 series I had before it, it's so much comfier over mid/long distance, much easier to get in/out, seating position much comfier. Ride comfort much better, boot much bigger/better shaped and more room for passengers. I would never have one for a "fun/weekend car" and I think the X3 size is probably as big as the vast majority of people would need day to day. But I do see the attraction now I have one.
I'd take a other MK3 fiesta RS Turbo tomorrow if I could find one at a decent price and hadn't rusted to bits from the petrol cap haha
Not all SUVs are the same (although they all look horrible, and the same). Some are ridiculous oversized cars - some aren't. My Kona isn't much bigger than a hatchback (which has its drawbacks - small boot and small rear space). Personally I hate the shape of SUVs, and only got mine because it was the only year-old full EV with a decent range I could afford. But I hate giant road-hogging oversized SUVs. It's just a fashion, and a ridiculous one. The sooner it's over, the better. And if it's too big to park, just leave it at home and get the bus.
Our next door neighbour asked us to cut the hedge in the summer because it's a single track road, we're responsible for the hedges on both sides, and he'd just bought a new car. It seemingly never occurred to him to wonder if buying a brand new all electric Range Rover was the best idea when you live on a very narrow single track road with high hedges on both sides.
