Viking13

You managed to read a lot into my post that simply isn't there. Apart from answering my question regarding tax break on 4WD.

My points were:

There is no need for town & city dwellers for 4WD. I was not attacking those who have a legitimate need.

I never mentioned the words "Gas Guzzler."

I anticipate that technology will eventually produce efficient and effective vehicles for the diversity of use that we require.

It would be beneficial if Australia could lead the way in development and manufacture - which would be a change instead of letting opportunities slip away. Hence my support for Valerie's article.

Why are we (Australia) aren't getting started on this now is the question.

Yes diesel engines are more efficient. Small diesel engined cars are even better than large diesels, while small diesel engined hybrids would get even better fuel consumption. There are further ways of improving engine efficiency, some of which are already marketed.

I have a brother in law on a farm who drives a small car, and travels a lot in the bush, not all country people need large cars, and small 4WDs exist. Some of the smaller cars come out better in safety tests than big cars.

I do not know of any statistics which show that Australians are bigger than most Europeans, why would we need bigger cars? I understand that higher percentage of our driving is in urban areas than most other countries, the big car for the big country makes no sense at all to me.

Just thought I would share these thoughts.

Fractelle, I answered your point in the first sentence then launched into a general spiel on other's points- sorry for the confusion.

Logic, I'm not an advocate of large cars, far from it. Bigger cars do cruise a lot better on the open road, but not everyone goes needs to go too far out of the major cities. My 4WD is probably a tad larger than I need, but then I was very limited by price and model availability given that I insisted on diesel (and automatic) at the time of purchase. The larger car is great for the longer trips I do though, and as noted earlier I carry big loads at times.

It comes down to horses for courses. A lot of city-dwellers have "too much car" at least from a commuting point of view. Unfortunately for some their vehicle must fulfil multiple roles so a compromise is required. For many though the infrequent need for load carrying or non-urban cruising compared to commuting might lead to a rethink on choice.

Logic, you're quite right, Europeans are much the same as us size-wise. Their cars have only become available at a reasonable price in the last few years though. Prior to that many of us could only afford local stuff or Japanese.

Thanks for the clarification, Viking13.

I understand where you are coming from now.

Another question, whatever happened to the family station-wagon? This was the preferred transport for the kiddies, dogs and golf clubs in times past. They didn't obstruct sight lines in traffic, more stable on highways and winding roads compared to 4WD's, and, finally could be constructed to be far more economical with our improving technology. I am concerned that people will simply switch to LPG 4WD's in the cities and the problems I mentioned above will remain.

Being a carrot rather than stick type of person, incentives could be made for people to make the transition to economical, practical and safer transport.

Fractelle, the "family station wagon" is still around, just not as big outside as they used to be (even small wagons have great interior space these days). There are wagons from the Japanese makers, plus Skoda, Citroen, VW, Mercedes etc. The lines have become blurred with the advent of SUVs and "soft-roaders" as well as people-movers, plus many hatchbacks are effectively a "mini-wagon". I believe Falcon has ceased production of its Falcon wagon (despite popularity in taxi circles) in favour of the Territory, which although a "soft-roader" is available in 2WD.

From a personal point of view, soft-roaders are great. They can travel on our poor outback roads as well as carry loads, and they can be quite fuel-efficient even in petrol form. They aren't as heavy as "proper" 4WDs because they lack a transfer case (in other words they don't have low range, which many 4WD owners rarely use anyway). Having said that, I don't own one, opting for a "proper" 4WD due to living in the outback.

I'd make the comment too that many city-dwellers travel out of town regularly, to the bush. They'd perhaps be looking for a small commuter for town use, as a second car, with fuel becoming so expensive. It's down to personal choice (and finances) since flogging off a "gas guzzler" in time of high fuel prices can lead to big losses- enough to pay for the purchase of a small second car, for instance.

I can't fault Yules thinking.

I'm retired, my wife I share two cars. One a ute, for when we need to move something large or need to travel long distances. This means it doesn't get much work, 10000ks for the year would pull it up. Our other car is a small Diahatsu Alto Hatch. It's great for the two of us to go shopping & visit the family. So it get much more use. The Cuolo is the 4 seater version & that would be fine for a small family. Our arrangement is fine for us & would be a good model to work with.

The day of the huge car with large motors are slowly dying. Of course revheads will always want "the power" but it's a mentality that must be educated out of the community. That would be up to the legislators. Car manufactures will always push "the power" because the large luxury car means more money & for te Oil Companies & more fuel sold. They have an agenda to keep cars large & guzzling gas to the detriment of the ordinary man who is being led by the nose. Mitsubushi large luxury car failed & they closed the plant in South Australia. Has that shown the car manufacturers something. No. Their answer is to reduce the number of small cars so the public has a reduced choice, then denigrate small cars as being unsuitable for Australia.

My choice for our next car would be one about the same size as the Daihatsu, perhaps a little taller, with a hybred engine for about $10-15000. But there is not one available at the moment. Can the Goverment be persuaded to convince car manufacture to make a car along those lines in Australia? I'd like to see that.