America pioneered mass-market car production in the beginning of the 20th century and was the largest car market in the world for over a hundred years, triggering creation of hundreds of brands. From removing financial incentives for foreign car makers to requiring they launch Chinese car brands, Beijing has tried to curtail the seemingly endless popularity of non-local autos as domestic brands continue to cede ground to their foreign counterparts.
War inevitably furthers the frontiers of science and the requirements of the two world wars gave another much-needed impetus to top car brands and the technological know-how gained during this time translated into more and more luxurious, safer and more powerful cars.
If Australia could sell cars into the massive markets in Europe or North America we might have a chance — ignoring for a moment the hurdle of unfavourable exchange rates — except they already have massive overcapacity with too many car factories and not enough customers.
I’m not arguing against improving the tests, I’m arguing against the concept of standard testing by doing real driving”, that’s it. I get way better mileage than a friend of mine on a similar car due to the only factor of our driving styles, and I’m not even one of those people fixated on mileage.
When your consistent test involves disconnecting the alternator, switching tires, removing parts of the car or other such things that are either illegal on a public roads or extremely dangerous, things that are not explicitly specified in EG 715/7007 (EU tests) or EPA procedure then you are offering numbers that have only one purpose: to cheat and trick consumers.