In case you hadn’t noticed, free markets are long dead in the US, because in free markets willing sellers sell to willing buyers who have determined what best fits their needs among the many alternatives. In our no longer free country, bureaucrats get to decide which alternatives buyers even get to consider. From Eric Peters at theburningplatform.com:
Would you be interested in a brand-new, fully warranted, five-door crossover SUV built by a major, name-brand automaker that gave you 50-plus MPG with a gas (not diesel or hybrid) engine, that has a top speed around 125 mph, is capable of getting to 60 in 12 seconds (about the same as a Prius hybrid) that stickered for less than $5,000?Kwid lead
Yeah, me too.
It’s called the Renault Kwid (see here) and it looks kinda-sorta like a Nissan Juke or Kia Soul and is about the same size as those units.
It isn’t a latter-day Yugo either.
The Kwid comes standard with AC, power windows and a digital dashboard, a seven-inch LCD display in the center stack and most of the apps you’d find in a new Soul or Juke.
It also has a modern, fuel-injected engine and a five-speed overdrive transmission.
The difference is the Kwid costs about a third what a new Juke or Soul would cost you to buy: Its base price is just $4,700 (not counting taxes and tags).
Too bad we can’t buy one.
Not because such a vehicle isn’t available.
It’s just not available here.
Neither are other such cars, like the Suzuki Alto 800 (53 MPG and a base price of $3,870; $5,755 loaded) and the Hyundai Eon (50 MPG and $4,856 to start; $6,636 loaded).
To continue reading: Another Car We’re Not Allowed to Buy
