What I find contradictory and pretty much nonsensical is that, while transitioning to EVs on the grounds this will help global warming, simultaneously in a number of markets huge SUVs or worse still even huger pick up trucks which are of little or no utility where many of the owners of said vehicles reside in cities are dominating the market.
The contretemps in Ukraine probably thwarts efforts to reduce world wide carbon emissions to a considerable degree as well.
I think it's a couple of things. Governments are beginning to mandate collectively, Automakers reduce their emissions. And by collectively, I mean an average across their range. It's the sole reason Aston Martin produce the Cygnet (basically a Smart car), to offset the emissions produced by their mainstream models.
Of course, that EV R&D requires considerable capital which the auto companies need to raise. However, I think they have taken the piss proverbially in using that as an excuse to price gouge customers on ICE cars. Sadly, despite what you see on Reddit, a lot of the paying public, especially in the US, don't want small, economical cars. The market has moved towards SUV's and pickup trucks, at least hear in the states. Kia introduced the Telluride a few years back, and demand for it was far outweighing supply. It was just 'the car' to have for suburban families it seems. Another issue is that again, in the US, pickup trucks have moved from utility vehicles to luxury vehicles and are priced as such. My friend whom I mentioned in a previous post who bought a 2021 F150 has been used purely as a luxury vehicle. He hasn't hauled anything aside from luggage and groceries in it, has never towed anything and he even got it ceramic coated when he bought it. Nothing wrong with that, but that's the market that trucks are now aimed at.
People are buying SUV's and pickups, so that's what the manufacturers are making, selling, and charging huge amounts for. I think at some point the bubble is going to burst though, and we are already seeing it in some cases.
How many of those workers are drivers, facility management employees of different ilk, assembly line workers, administrative staff, etc. ?
And how many relevant positions within the industry is there for the KTM workers to apply for?
Goes back to saturation in the local market like I said. I graduated from university in 2004 right as Rover, the UK car company, went belly up. Over 6,000 jobs were lost which flooded the market. As a result it took me a year to get a job in Engineering.
We are light-years from the countries in the large parts of the world. Important to see the vast difference and not to devalue ourselves.
You make a very good point. Any philosopher or person with knowledge on the history of Greek for example, would consider Western Governments as a streamlined version of the future.
