Originally Posted by
Koyote
This statement astounds me.
I can drive 45 minutes to the nearest large city and choose from two-seater sports cars (Corvette, Miata, all manner of Porsches), econoboxes (e.g., Corolla, Civic), sedans from small (Camry, Fusion) to large (Cadillac, BMW), SUVs from small to huge, pickup trucks, minivans, etc. And I can choose from standard internal combustion engines, hybrids, and full-on EVs. All at a large range of price points. You really think there's "not much difference between most of them"?
Furthermore, the number of manufacturers in the market has increased. 50 years ago, it was pretty much the US Big 3 and a few imports such as VW. In the 70s and 80s, the Japanese companies began to have a huge impact, as well as greater influence from various Euro brands, from BMW to Volvo Then came the Koreans. And now, there are all kinds of new domestic entries to the market, from Tesla to Rivian.
and soon, we'll have a wave of Chinese brands coming onshore, for better or for worse.