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Thursday, August 18, 2016

Auto Observations from Finland: Why are Pick Up Trucks and SAABs so scarce? -- from Ed






Not seen any interesting cars yet John and we've already traveled over 1,000 miles on the best highways I've ever seen -- even better than the German roads I'd swear -- not seen one pothole anywhere which is odd given that the climate in Finland 9 months out of the year is miserable.

But two observations:

1. Why don't Europeans like pick-up trucks?  We have seen zero pick-up trucks on this trip -- no company makes or sells pick-up trucks in the Nordic countries it seems.  What do carpenters, plumbers, other tradesmen use in their work?  Perhaps just small vans it seems.  In the USA every third person seems to own and drive a pick-up truck but they have never carried much weight in much of Europe.  Years ago Toyota tried to sell their small pick-ups in various European countries (the Toyota Hilux) and that went nowhere. 

2. How quickly a "brand" and marque fades once it becomes an orphan.  SAAB was the 3rd most popular car brand in Finland at one point with thousands sold.  Yet in towns and over 1,000 miles on the highways I have yet to see a single SAAB and the marque only ceased production three years ago.  I asked someone "where are the SAABs?" The reply was: "all recycled."

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