Quote:
Originally Posted by shaffe
...My Focus died earlier this month, and it put me behind the 8 ball to get a new car. Now it was before I was ready so I knew I had to get a responsible choice with the little guy, and keep it in a modest budget. I looked Fusion's, Malibu's and then Accord, Camry and Mazda6. My Mazda6 has adaptive cruise control, sunroof, 19" wheels, city brake assist, lane keep assist, 250HP, 310 LB/FT of tq, heated leatherette seats and auto climate control, the list price on my car was 30 and all of that was standard! Only option was the paint. Couldn't come close to that in a Fusion or a Malibu. A comparable Malibu was over 36K and the Fusion was over 35K. The Accord came really close, but I liked the way the Mazda drove much better. Even on the styling front, IMO the Mazda6 is the best looking midsize car in the class (slight bias!) and the accord is a close second. The Mazda is definitely the best driving car in the class and that along with the long list of standard features at a relatively low MSRP is what made me jump from domestic to the Japanese. I think Ford and GM could look across the pacific and see how they are building their midszie sedans and take some serious notes.
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And GM/Ford are more than OK with your choice...
One of the issues is smaller/less expensive cars are not profitable due to domestic automaker's liabilities to have to pay pensions and deal with Union inefficiencies. Japan's gov't pays auto worker's pensions. Labor costs and currency issues, including possible manipulation (Yen is cheaper vs $) are other factors.
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/bu...sler/23852189/