Reply #8: Something to ponder...

[susanna]

Europeans usually travel much shorter distances than your average North American, and when they do travel longer distances, have excellent rail transportation (compared to us). Ancedotal information here, but I'll throw it out: a German colleague of my husband's was here on business a few months back. We took him around our area to show him some local places. To us, the drive was short, but to him? He thought we went hundreds of miles (maybe we did, I have no idea). He said he partly understood our larger vehicles now; he would have been cramped up and tired after doing it in a smaller car.

Also, in particularly desolate and cold regions of North America, we should also carry more survival gear than your average European (salt, sand, jumper cables, blankets, food and water, toolkits). Smaller vehicles don't easily lend themselves to that use - especially if you want to carry people, too.

It's a pet theory of mine, and it really started when I realized I never took my very small B-car (VW) anywhere further than around my city neighborhood in southern Michigan. When I went on long trips, I took a sedan or van, sometimes renting one to do so.

I also noticed how easy it was to get around Europe when I was there; very different from our car-centric culture. The small cars were great for short hops, but rail made getting to larger cities quite simple.

So I think there are a few things to contemplate about vehicle needs before saying "one size fits all."