“but I see those cars as being driven by Mexicans and other wanna-be kids that think they are cool” I don’t know where you live but I don’t see many Hispanic people or kids driving Nissan 350Z’s, RX-8’s, and S2000’s. For cars that sticker in the 28k-40k+ I hardly see kids driving them, more like white haired men is what I see driving those cars.

Also it’s only a coincidence that I used Need For Speed in my moniker. Unlike those kids that I was referring to I actually participate in drag races, autocross, and local track days in my area and I actually drive in real life. And I’ll be honest in saying that I have a serious speed addiction.

And, may I mention the irony of your criticizing Japanese kids for playing video games w/ cool cars instead of driving them when your username is basically a video game – Need For Speed

For the U.S., the deciding factor is going to be price of gas and cost of living. People are getting creative in saving money. The cost of living is climbing faster than increase in salary, which is changing people’s spending habit. What would you choose between food and a car when you could ride the bus? What about car payment vs. mortgage payment? When it gets so expensive to commute and park the car in the city, or to even keep insurance on the car, people will move back to the city, or at least carpool, or use park-n-ride. That’s why we see the new suburban developments are the first to suffer in the bursting of the housing market bubble.

Light rail systems, or trolley projects will get a chance with enough population moving back into city neighborhoods to sustain riderships. I think we will see similar trend in the U.S. with young city warriors. People living in the country will of course need a car as it is necessary.

Lets drop another bomb on them and that should get them back on track

I’ve heard that in Japanese markets it’s the American companies that do well, and the Japanese (specifically Toyota) really lag behind. I know Suzuki sells tons of vehicles over there, since they don’t sell many of here, how about just sending some of those vehicles over here? I’m sure 10,000 a year would sell out good, as long as you don’t increase that number.