Why aren't xAs as popular as xBs?
02-22-2005, 09:43 PM
#101
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 396
I think the main reasons why the xB is more popular in America are pretty obvious. One of the biggest is interior room. Americans hate small cars, nearly every one here buys the biggest they can afford, not the biggest that meets their needs.
Personally, when I looked at the cars, the xA's looks appealed to me more, but I sat in an xB first. When I sat in the xA, I felt claustrophobic immediately and the back seats were a joke IMO. I need to be able to use my rear seats to carry adults frequently and i like my passengers to be comfortable and not to struggle. The back seat alone ruled out the xA for me and I suspect that is the issue for many people.
Add to that Americans don't like hatchbacks generally, the xB is a hatch, but it is more wagon-like. It also looks like a truck/SUV which Im sure increases its appeal to a lot of people.
xA is more of a city car for someone who thinks of the VW Golf as a "midsized" car. That doesn't fit the profile of most Americans.
Only people who LIKE small cars will buy an xA, whereas people who would not even normally consider a small car are open to buying an xB because the interior room is on par with a Ford Explorer or whatever else people buy by default.
Personally, when I looked at the cars, the xA's looks appealed to me more, but I sat in an xB first. When I sat in the xA, I felt claustrophobic immediately and the back seats were a joke IMO. I need to be able to use my rear seats to carry adults frequently and i like my passengers to be comfortable and not to struggle. The back seat alone ruled out the xA for me and I suspect that is the issue for many people.
Add to that Americans don't like hatchbacks generally, the xB is a hatch, but it is more wagon-like. It also looks like a truck/SUV which Im sure increases its appeal to a lot of people.
xA is more of a city car for someone who thinks of the VW Golf as a "midsized" car. That doesn't fit the profile of most Americans.
Only people who LIKE small cars will buy an xA, whereas people who would not even normally consider a small car are open to buying an xB because the interior room is on par with a Ford Explorer or whatever else people buy by default.
02-22-2005, 10:04 PM
#103
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SL Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Somewhere, USA
Posts: 684
Small-car stigma. It doesn't deserve it, not by a long shot because it has quality and features that are unheard of for the price, but a lot of people wouldn't even consider it long enough to get to know it because it is so small.
A tC is not exactly large, but it makes the xA look tiny.
And an xB is unique enough to be cool, but still really functional.
An xA, apart from the quality and features, only has good mileage going for it. But the public perception is that high-mileage can be found in ANY car that small.
And a lot of people are too scared of getting in a wreck with an SUV or a semi-truck to drive something that small. Never mind that it is solidly built, the mindset is that big crumple zones are needed...
Long story short it has more to do with perceptions than facts.
A tC is not exactly large, but it makes the xA look tiny.
And an xB is unique enough to be cool, but still really functional.
An xA, apart from the quality and features, only has good mileage going for it. But the public perception is that high-mileage can be found in ANY car that small.
And a lot of people are too scared of getting in a wreck with an SUV or a semi-truck to drive something that small. Never mind that it is solidly built, the mindset is that big crumple zones are needed...
Long story short it has more to do with perceptions than facts.
02-24-2005, 05:15 PM
#105
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 396
Originally Posted by mfbenson
Small-car stigma. It doesn't deserve it, not by a long shot because it has quality and features that are unheard of for the price, but a lot of people wouldn't even consider it long enough to get to know it because it is so small.
A tC is not exactly large, but it makes the xA look tiny.
And an xB is unique enough to be cool, but still really functional.
An xA, apart from the quality and features, only has good mileage going for it. But the public perception is that high-mileage can be found in ANY car that small.
And a lot of people are too scared of getting in a wreck with an SUV or a semi-truck to drive something that small. Never mind that it is solidly built, the mindset is that big crumple zones are needed...
Long story short it has more to do with perceptions than facts.
A tC is not exactly large, but it makes the xA look tiny.
And an xB is unique enough to be cool, but still really functional.
An xA, apart from the quality and features, only has good mileage going for it. But the public perception is that high-mileage can be found in ANY car that small.
And a lot of people are too scared of getting in a wreck with an SUV or a semi-truck to drive something that small. Never mind that it is solidly built, the mindset is that big crumple zones are needed...
Long story short it has more to do with perceptions than facts.
I agree. I think the small car phobia is a uniquely American problem though. I suspect its rooted partially in the fear of being crushed by an absent minded soccer mom in an Excursion. Of course there is also the American "bigger is better" attitude held by morons that equate the size of their car with the size of their genitalia. No place is that more evident than Phoenix, the capital of jacked up full-size SUVs driven by small-peckered Bush voters.
I agree about the unique/cool thing. Actually I'd say one of the things I like about the xB is that the styling is functional FIRST, in other words it's not weird for weirdness sake like so many cars today, it's shape is pure function and practicality, it just happens to look cool.
03-01-2005, 03:04 AM
#108
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SL Member
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Roseville, MI
Posts: 327
xB's better... blah, blah, blah ----- 
xB has more room... blah, blah, blah -----
xB is cooler... blah, blah, blah -----
I hate you all....
You xB'ers have worn out your welcome here in xA-land, now go back to your own forum!
~ ~
xB has more room... blah, blah, blah -----
xB is cooler... blah, blah, blah -----
I hate you all....
You xB'ers have worn out your welcome here in xA-land, now go back to your own forum!
~ ~
03-01-2005, 05:17 AM
#111
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SL Member
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Roseville, MI
Posts: 327
Keep flamin and the mods will want to shut us down again.
Yeah and then after we post the "What happend to..." thread, they'll put it back and say, "Hey dummies! It's right here!"... again
I still swear the cheap mods thread was gone! I'll stick to that till the end.
You know I have nuthin but luv for the xB'ers...
03-03-2005, 01:13 AM
#112
Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: aberdeen
Posts: 1
I have the xa and I have to agree that there are more of the xb. I live in aberdeen maryland and I am starting to think that i am the only one with the silver streak xa because I have had mine for almost a year now and I have not seen one like it yet . It would be nice to meet someone in harford county with xa.
03-07-2005, 04:16 PM
#113
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 396
Originally Posted by Blue_Estel
xB's better... blah, blah, blah -----
xB has more room... blah, blah, blah -----
xB is cooler... blah, blah, blah -----
I hate you all....
You xB'ers have worn out your welcome here in xA-land, now go back to your own forum!
~ ~
xB has more room... blah, blah, blah -----
xB is cooler... blah, blah, blah -----
I hate you all....
You xB'ers have worn out your welcome here in xA-land, now go back to your own forum!
~ ~ If I didn't carry people so often, I might have gotten an xA. I actually prefer the aerodynamic look of the xA to the blockiness of my xB a bit.
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