"That’s because there isn’t much margin in small, cheap cars any more. Right now, Fiesta isn’t viable, and the same will be true for other brands.[...]"
I wonder why. Are young people not buying cars anymore?
Tl;dr / if you don't have Economist access - the reasons they give for this shift are: it's easier for manufacturers to pass on costs with bigger cars; there are fewer good small electric cars anyway, and electric is becoming increasingly important given forthcoming climate policies; modern booster seat regulations have pushed families towards larger cars; and people have more money nowadays so tend to buy bigger cars.
I don't think we'll ever end up in a US situation though given how our towns and cities are designed. I hugely value having a small B-segment car (e.g. Fiesta/Polo/Fabia/Yaris) for parking in London and don't think I could see myself going larger than a C-segment (e.g. Focus/Golf/Octavia/Corolla) in the future unless I moved fully out of London.
It's mainly because of emission standards. Those require extra technology that serves up the cost. That makes smaller cars more expensive and this it's attractive. This will change, once batteries become cheaper. Putting together a small EV is much easier and you don't have to worry about emissions. We will see that within the next five years or so.
Is this really a good idea now? I get more people were buying bigger cars as they had more disposable income and the manufacturers loved it for the bigger profit margin. But isn't the cost of living crisis going to write that out. Isn't now exactly the right time to sell a small economy sized car?
Shame, have really enjoyed the fiesta - leased a new one in 16 and have kept getting em, pretty decent but we're not heavy drivers. Pleasant enough and the satnav stuff was good after coming from shitty 2nd hand renault clios lol
I drove a Fiesta for a few months for a few months as a rental before I got my current car. It was an unmitigated piece of crap. I've never hated a car that much. So yeah, good riddance.
Very much a car built to a price point to serve a purpose. I once drove a Cross that was much the same. Kitted out to look sporty, had the pulling power of an asthmatic snail. Absolute shit.
But cheap enough for most people to be able to use one to get to the supermarket.
Very much a car built to a price point to serve a purpose.
I think it used to be that way. I just configured one on the ford website and the recommended price is roughly 30k EUR. I guess the cheap car market is no more. I remember buying one in early 2000s for a bit over 10 k.
Edit: of course, they're not directly comparable, the current model has way more features, but it is certainly not what I'd consider cheap.