Export Elios To Mexico

[RSchneider]

Toyota sells about 90K per year in Mexico. Plus, as for novelty in that country, that's for the 1% and they buy real high dollar cars. Honestly, I'd be afraid to drive an Elio in a place like Mexico City. You'd either get robbed or run over (go drive around Mexico City for a day). Those front wheels sitting out there wouldn't make it a day before someone would drive over one of them. I have found, you are better going with whatever everyone else drives and blend in. Up until recently, all you had to be is 16 years old and pay a fee for a license. No test or anything whatsoever. I don't think Mexico has the worst drivers but they have to be in the top 10.

 

[Rob Croson]

It is important to note that most (all?) of those cars sold ultra-cheap in Mexico are not able to be sold in the US because they don't comply with regulations for new cars in the US. Most manufacturers make special cheap/stripped models for sale in Mexico and other countries with less strict regulations than the US. The Chevy Spark you buy in Mexico is NOT the same Chevy Spark you buy in the US! If Elio were to do the same thing, and reduce their standards to sell a car in Mexico of the same quality as the other major manufacturers, it would not be a $7,450 car. It would be a much less expensive model.

 

[RSchneider]

Amazingly enough, Mexico is starting to raise their standards. What companies like Chevy, Nissan and VW d,o is take an older model (i.e. MK IV Jetta) and keep selling it there. It is a global platform that is 95% the same as what was sold here in the US but safety standards have changed since it was last sold here in the US in 2005. As for the Chevy Spark Classic, it's literally a 2010 US model. So, the safety standards are not 2017 spec but they were good enough for 2010. Even for the Elio, the safety standards have changed ever since they have been in business. In addition to that, we have no idea what the Elio safety standards are anyway. At least for the Chevy Spark Classic, we do.

 

[Jambe]

. I don't think Mexico has the worst drivers but they have to be in the top 10.

I'm pretty sure the worst drivers are in Russia.

 

[W. WIllie]

Agreed, check out the Road Rage videos from Russia on U tube..

 

[RSchneider]

I've been in Russia a few times and they are bad drivers. What else they have are the worst roads you can ever imagine. What takes the cake is that they have winter and that just makes things even more exciting.

As for Mexico, the driving is not bad once you get out of the cities. Main reason is because there are not many cars on the road as most of the traffic are trucks and public transportation. Which brings me to the point where if you go to a Mexican car plant and then an American one, the parking lot for the American one is full of cars, the Mexican one is not. I'd say 90% of the plant workers either ride a bike, walk or take public transportation to work. Plus every plant looks like a prison with armed guards and a really high fence. That's to control the crime.

As for a place like Mexico City, I believe that the front fenders on an Elio would last 30 minutes. Either someone would run into or steal them. Then they would be turned in for scrap or sold on the black market (Own an Elio and want some fenders?, it's gonna cost you). In the end, every Elio would not have any fenders on them.

 

[AriLea]

...In the end, every Elio would not have any fenders on them.

But definitely would have after-market, anti-theft lock nuts.. :-)

 

[NSTG8R]

I'm pretty sure the worst drivers are in Russia.

Definitely! They're either completely oblivious to their surroundings [walking or driving], tanked on Vodka, or suicidal [makes sense...you're stuck in Russia!]...or a combination of two or more of the later.

 

[Trusting]

I've traveled in rural Mexico with a Mexican friend behind the wheel of his "Ford Cougar".... yeah, Ford, not Mercury, go figure.... Anyway, going up and down hills, around bends all at speeds so high that if anything got in our way there was no way to stop in time. A real white knuckle ride. He even clipped a pedestrian at an intersection and kept going. I wonder if the guy got hurt? It was the most harrowing ride I ever took and that includes a trip across central Rome, during rush hour, on the back of a Vespa!
Viva Mexico!

 

[jdkeats]

Having people of Mexico buy an Elio would save tons of pollution because everyone would be walking.