• Mamertine@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    To be fair, the automobile centric city has worked for about 70 years.

    The cost of cars is being driven higher by demand for more features. The car companies can make a really cheap car, but consumer’s want air conditioning, power everything, fancy infotainment systems, heated seats and quick 0-60mph times. Then additionally the government mandate for safety and emissions increase the cost further.

    You can buy a new car in India for under $5,000 USD.

    • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      but consumer’s want air conditioning, power everything, fancy infotainment systems, heated seats and quick 0-60mph times.

      This is the same lies that the big three have been trying for decades. I want a normal boring fucking car. I want to spend as little money as I can on repair maintenance and fuel. I don’t want some garbage bullshit infotainment system.

      And no I can’t buy a new car in India. Go ahead and sell me one.

    • Wooster@startrek.website
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      1 year ago

      So I looked up the specs for the first 5K-ish India car I found.

      https://www.cardekho.com/maruti/alto-k10/specs

      As far as I can tell, it has every feature you’re saying is responsible for western automakers charging around 6 times the cost of this car… sans heated seats and purported safety standards.

      Chevy charges an additional $1K for the package that adds heated seats to their Bolt EV.

      So, am I to take you at face value that you’re inferring that safety concerns and standards are responsible for the remainder of the price gouging?

      • tim-clark@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        You can get a golf kart with tye same accessories. Safety, reliability, and quality are a big part of the cost. So is profit.

        A 5k car is a golf cart with doors.