Not to bring presidential politics into this discussion, but there's this:
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-he-will-put-100-tariffs-every-car-coming-across-mexico-border-2024-09-24/
Speaking of a cheap powerful Stang GT, Lebanon Ford is offering a special. $49,995 for its 810 hp supercharged GT with manual tranny, only 5 less hp than GTD
Industry is just responding to what people either want or are willing to buy. Some people want things that are either less popular or not feasible for mfrs and they will usually be disappointed.
Yea, lots of assumptions. The Economist said the following
Using data for 7.5 million two-vehicle crashes in 14 American states in 2013–2023, The Economist found that for every 10,000 crashes the heaviest vehicles killed 37 people in the other car, compared with 5.7 for cars of a median weight and just 2.6 for the lightest. The publication estimates that if the heaviest 10 percent of vehicles on America’s roads were roughly 1,000 pounds lighter, fatalities in multicar crashes would fall by 12 percent, saving 2,300 lives a year, without compromising the safety of the occupants of the heavier vehicles
Fear doesn’t have to be rational, just has to be.
Example is Honda Civic had standard 2.0L naturally aspirated and optional 1.5L turbo which had more power, torque, and lower fuel consumption, and it seems my local dealer must have sold a lot more of the base 2.0L even though price difference wasn’t that great. Not sure if my observation on volume is right. Anyway, starting 2025 with introduction of hybrid, turbo option went away. I can relate, and it’s not because I’m afraid of turbo engines. I just prefer simple stuff that is most durable and economical to own over the long haul. I don’t need or want another Mustang (already have one) but if I did, I would be in the 2% group that would not want a turbo-4 or need over 400 HP. In a way I feel auto industry is losing touch with common people/drivers.
I seriously question those statistics. How do you determine that a particular fatal crash was survivable if the vehicle sizes were the same? In a lot of accidents size is irrelevant and the person would have died anyway. Way too many assumptions required to get that statistic.