Posted on 03/26/2012 5:24:06 PM PDT by WesternCulture
The average American car owner might be annoyed with gas prices, but despite his opinions on Obama's handling of the nation, he still can afford to drive around in a gas guzzler.
Unlike rich Norway and Denmark, where car consumption is heavily discouraged, the car producing nation of Sweden (where I live) could only be rivalled by Switzerland.
It shows in Swedish stats on car sales.
The average Swede could afford a car the average citizen of no other nation could afford.
For 16 consequtive years in a row, the 'close to luxury' Volvo V70 has been the top selling car (of three different generations) in my nation.
Top that! (However; we too buy Korean junk..)
What about Japan and Germany?
Continue reading..
10 Best selling cars in the US 2011:
1. Ford F-series 2. Chevrolet Silverado 3. Toyota Camry 4. Nissan Altima 5. Ford Escape 6. Ford Fusion 7. Honda Accord 8. Toyota Corolla 9. Chevrolet Cruze 10. Dodge Ram
Best selling cars in Sweden February 2012:
1 Volvo V70 2 VW Passat 3 Volvo V60 4 VW Golf 5 Volvo V50 6 Kia Ceed 7 Ford Focus 8 Renault Megane 9 Volvo XC60 10 BMW 3-Series
Best selling cars in Japan 2011:
1 Toyota Prius 2 Honda Fit 3 Toyota Vitz 4 Nissan Serena 5 Toyota Corolla 6 Mazda Demio 7 Toyota Ractis 8 Toyota Passo 9 Toyota Voxy 10 Nissan March
Best selling cars in Germany 2011:
1 VW Golf/Plus/Jetta 2 VW Passat 3 VW Polo 4 Mercedes C-Klasse 5 Opel Astra 6 Mercedes A-Klasse 7 Ford Focus 8 Opel Corsa 9 Mercedes E-Klasse 10 VW Touran
Has anyone else noticed that when a family or a geek family is portrayed in the movies they generally are driving a Volvo station wagon? Yet according to this Volvo is not a big seller in the USA.
I bet a dollar anyone driving a Volvo would not like to be rear ended by that. LOL.
Hmmm, interesting. I have a friend in Sweden, IIRC, he told me his mom likes to drive a Benz and his father, a Volvo. There are actually American car enthusiasts in Sweden as well. They seem to enjoy a quite high standard of living in Sweden, IIRC, over the years, they have realized that they have become too socialist although they still have some weird laws an high taxes. I Google Earthed a house in Sweden, I did see a central A/C unit, come to think if it, if I didn’t know it was Sweden I would have thought it was in West Virgina.
The German and Japanese car producers are adapting to that fact by building local plant in the USA, which will begin to alter that dynamic.
How do I get to be paid for doing such important “research”?
My wife’s old 95 Buick Roadmaster gets 26 MPG on the Highway, about the same as todays 6 cylinder Buick’s, and they call it a gas guzzler. It has 172,000 miles on it, and it runs like a top.. My car is a 2005 Toyota Camry that gets 32 on the highway and 26 around home.
Not all Americans have gas guzzlers and some keep them because they cannot afford anything new. That’s me. I bought the Camry second hand 5 years ago.
Volvo doesn’t make the top ten in the U.S. and yet we buy more Volvos than Sweden.
“Top that!”
The Swiss drive kodas, which are less expensive Volkswagens made in the Czech Republic. When I was in Switzerland, my friend there said that the Beemers there are driven by poor Poles who come as seasonal workers to Swiss farms during the harvest season.
Wow! What a surprise! And ya’ know what?! The Pope’s a Catholic, and bears crap in the woods! Can you believe it?!
Clark Griswold’s wagon?
:)
Yes, Sweden of today is pretty rich and we could afford hobbies like restoring old American cars to mint condition.
The major reason behind this is the fact Sweden has had a major rethink and shifted its national policy from a Socialism to Capitalism mindset.
From 1870-1970, Sweden was the most successful country on Earth in terms of annual GDP growth. During 1970-1990 it was the least successful of all industrialized nations.
Today, we could compete with China and India in these domains.
Income taxes are still very high in Sweden and so are the taxes on consumption.
But the good news is that corporate taxes are very low over here. The business life in Sweden indeed looks very healthy.
Everybody in MY outfit called them GOOKS! Te rubber boots we bought downtown to WEAR downtown in the wintertime were called Gook Boots by all of us.
Things have actually become more genteel over the years. The term Jap shouldn’t be any more offensive to someone of Nippon extraction than the term Yank is to an American, as the Brits call us. Oh gee! Maybe “Brit” is offensive to the British.
Volvos: They’re Boxy, But Good.
“Wow! What a surprise! And ya know what?! The Popes a Catholic, and bears crap in the woods! Can you believe it?!”
- I’m not the one wasting precious time here.
I saw a lot of Audis and Range rovers over there.
“Volvo doesnt make the top ten in the U.S. and yet we buy more Volvos than Sweden.
Top that!”
- Good point!:)
The average American car owner might be annoyed with gas prices, but despite his opinions on Obama’s handling of the nation, he still can afford to drive around in a gas guzzler.
Unlike Europeans, we Americans are still breeding and need the space to haul our offspring.
“How are the Ford F-series and Chevy Silverado “cars”?”
Definition of “car”:
“A wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.