Canadian Dealers Want To Import Cars Americans Can’t Buy

[urbanclient]

The Japanese and Korean SUV's and trucks are every bit as bloated and oversized these days.

By European standards, many SUVs and trucks sold in North America would be oversized.

However, all vehicles have gotten bigger. Much to do with crash safety standards, which have significantly improved in the last two decades. A 2026 Honda Civic has a longer wheelbase and is wider than a 2002 Honda Accord.

American manufacturers get a bad rap in some circles because they rely so heavily on high margin large SUVs and trucks. They also dominate those segments (except the mid size pickup). To be fair, they were uncompetitive, if not losing money on sedans and hatchbacks.

2.1 million American full sized pickups were sold in the US, compared to 150k Toyota Tundras...

https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2026/01/2025-q4-truck-sales-ford-gm-battle-toyota-tacoma-sets-record/

Ford doesn't sell small SUVs in NA anymore... or cars worldwide, save for a few select markets.

I believe they all have a manual release, it's just not always obvious where they are. In Model 3/Y read seat, it's a bit hidden in the door pocket. I think Tesla is redesigning the manual release to be more obvious.

The safety problem isn't unique to Teslas, and will likely be regulated away by 2027-2028 (starting with the Chinese EVs, which would be ironic to some UT people).

You also might want to look at how difficult it is to manually release a Model X's rear doors, and ask yourself if you could pull it off as a battery fire burns through the cabin. Without prior knowledge in the rear seat, you'd be in trouble in any Tesla that caught fire.

Model 3: "Only the front doors are equipped with a manual door release."

https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/2017_2023_model3/en_us/GUID-EA692A77-9F5B-44C4-B291-444263199337.html

"Not all Model Y vehicles are equipped with a manual release for the rear doors."

https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/2020_2024_modely/en_us/GUID-AAD769C7-88A3-4695-987E-0E00025F64E0.html

Save a life, lookup the VIN before loudly knocking on your Tesla-owning neighbour's door to tell them their car is a death trap.

 

[facepalming_brooklynite]

SUVs and light duty trucks have captured the market. You can argue that it is trend driven by manufacturer marketting and offering fewer sedan-type vehicles, but it is still a social trend.

School shootings are also a social trend. Doesn't mean they should be legal.

 

[nfitz]

But to the question, other foreign manufacturers get a pass? CAFE standards apply to any vehicle under 8500ib GVW which captures every vehicle that I am aware of in the 'half-ton' class (Ford F-150, Chev Silvarado, Dodge Ram, etc.) so I'm not sure which loophole they are crawling through. You have to get into the '3/4 ton' trucks to exceed that GVW, and I would argue most of the personal use/light duty trucks on the road are the smaller versions.

I've not really looked/though about this other than seeing mention, year after year, that pick-ups and larger SVUs don't have as stringent safety standards.

3/4 tons sounds low. A Honda Civic can be 1.4 tons. An F150 can be 2.7 tons. The Cybertruck is over 3 tons.

That aside, another issue is the height of the hood, meaning more people go under the vehicle than over. Little stops a manufacturer designing a nose for the vehicle that pushes more people up than down. That there appears to be no regulations about this - or the survivability of pedestrians hit by SVUs - seems like an easy fix.

SUVs and light duty trucks have captured the market. You can argue that it is trend driven by manufacturer marketting and offering fewer sedan-type vehicles, but it is still a social trend.

Could it not be a social trend, and have them improve pedestrian safety?

It's not like the purchase choice seems particularly sensitive to price. A base model F150 starts at over $50,000 and can reach over $100,000. A Nissan Versa starts at $21,000. Even a Honda Civic starts at about $28,000!

 

[urbanclient]

But to the question, other foreign manufacturers get a pass? CAFE standards apply to any vehicle under 8500ib GVW which captures every vehicle that I am aware of in the 'half-ton' class (Ford F-150, Chev Silvarado, Dodge Ram, etc.) so I'm not sure which loophole they are crawling through. You have to get into the '3/4 ton' trucks to exceed that GVW, and I would argue most of the personal use/light duty trucks on the road are the smaller versions.

SUVs and light duty trucks have captured the market. You can argue that it is trend driven by manufacturer marketting and offering fewer sedan-type vehicles, but it is still a social trend.

It is a fuel economy loophole, maybe that's a better name for this case. I'm no expert on it, but it's been covered extensively by various media. It has to do with vehicle footprint.

The bigger a vehicle is, the less fuel efficient it has to be. Now that superficially makes sense, but the way it's written, it leads to gas guzzling SUVs being favoured as standards for larger vehicles are too lax. (Light trucks are subject to more relaxed standards than a car with the same footprint)

For why NA loves SUVs, probably a positive feedback loop with manufacturers profiting more, social trends, and government regulations.

I suspect this disincentive to innovate for fuel economy is partly why American engines in smaller vehicles have worse gas mileage for the same horsepower and/or displacement than a Japanese equivalent. Combined with weaker reliability, it's no wonder they were uncompetitive and gave up on smaller cars.

Here is a quote:
"During the George W. Bush administration, CAFE was revised to further loosen rules for the biggest cars by tying a car model’s efficiency standard to its physical footprint (which is basically the shadow cast by the vehicle when the sun is directly above it). President Obama then incorporated similar footprint rules into new greenhouse gas emissions standards that are overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)."

Vox may not be the most trustworthy source on the planet, but they're largely correct in this case:

The reckless policies that helped fill our streets with ridiculously large cars

Dangerous, polluting SUVs and pickup trucks took over America. Lawmakers are partly to blame.

www.vox.com

 

[JJTheJetPln]

As far as I'm concerned, tech for tech's sake has infected many sectors of manufacturing.

I feel this way as well. I can understand that EV's have to seem all technologically advanced and everything, but I don't enjoy that we're turning everything into tech with motors and whatnot unnecessarily.

I'm in the market for an EV, but I still would like to have some traditional knobs dials and buttons as opposed to having everything integrated to the screen so when the screen dies I can't even drive the car. That also goes for gear selection on some of the EV's I've seen. Integrating it into the display is great and all, but if that display dies, you're SOL.

 

[hw621]

Talking about unnecessary techs on EVs, wait till you see large screen TVs, fridges and even dining tables on Chinese EVs...

 

[urbanclient]

Talking about unnecessary techs on EVs, wait till you see large screen TVs, fridges and even dining tables on Chinese EVs...

Canadians expecting blowout prices for China EVs likely to be disappointed, experts say

At least three Chinese automakers are advancing plans to bring China-built EVs to Canada following a trade deal struck between Ottawa and Beijing in January.

www.autonews.com

 

[Westey]

3/4 tons sounds low. A Honda Civic can be 1.4 tons. An F150 can be 2.7 tons. The Cybertruck is over 3 tons.

I don't fully talk pick-up truck lingo, but the "ton" of a pickup has no relation to reality.
Originally, it was the payload, the weight the truck can carry.
As trucks became better, the same size truck could carry more.
Now, the pick-up can carry about 2.5X that number (e.g. a 1/2-ton, 3/4-ton, and 1-ton pickup can carry about 1-1/4 ton, 1.9 tons and 2.5 tons).
The truck curb weight is about 5X the vehicle "tonnage" and the GVW is about 7X the tonnage.
But of course, nothing is that easy and the numers vary greatly.

So a 1/2 ton truck might have GVW of 7000 pounds and a 3/4 ton truck might be 10,000 pounds. So from the original post, 1/2 ton would be under, and 3/4 ton would be above the 8500-pound threshold.

Pick-ups are like 2x4's. The numbers are meaningless.

 

[nfitz]

Bizarre.

So what's the criteria when for safety, vehicles aren't treated equally to, say, a Toyota Corolla.

 

[lenaitch]

I feel this way as well. I can understand that EV's have to seem all technologically advanced and everything, but I don't enjoy that we're turning everything into tech with motors and whatnot unnecessarily.

I'm in the market for an EV, but I still would like to have some traditional knobs dials and buttons as opposed to having everything integrated to the screen so when the screen dies I can't even drive the car. That also goes for gear selection on some of the EV's I've seen. Integrating it into the display is great and all, but if that display dies, you're SOL.

Physical knobs and switches are also much safer to use while driving. With a little familiarity, you can locate and operate them without taking your eyes off the road. It is just about impossible to locate and manipulate and small icon on a touch screen without looking at it, particularly if it is a slide control.

The screen on the wife's SUV pooped out a couple of weeks ago. While some functions are repeated through physical controls on the dash, she did have to drive to the dealer with the seat heater on high.

 

[JJTheJetPln]

Physical knobs and switches are also much safer to use while driving. With a little familiarity, you can locate and operate them without taking your eyes off the road. It is just about impossible to locate and manipulate and small icon on a touch screen without looking at it, particularly if it is a slide control.

Yeah. One of my biggest gripes is that I was looking at the Nissan Ariya and I'm at a crossroads because there's buttons, but they're not physical, they're touch sensitive buttons... However, those buttons you have to be super specific on touch otherwise it won't register it. It's just as annoying as trying to adjust climate control or anything else, because anything else including the heated seats is built into it too.

I'm still looking into vehicles I could consider, but that list is getting shorter and shorter with each day that passes.

 

[Towered]

At the Auto Show last month I sat in a Tesla Cybertruck - I couldn't believe how lame the interior was. Nothing but flat black plastic everywhere, and just a giant iPad glued to the middle of the dashboard. That's it. No buttons or anything. It all looked so cheap and vapid, completely bereft of anything resembling design.

I kind of hate modern cars. ******* rolling eggs.

 

[urbanclient]

At the Auto Show last month I sat in a Tesla Cybertruck - I couldn't believe how lame the interior was. Nothing but flat black plastic everywhere, and just a giant iPad glued to the middle of the dashboard. That's it. No buttons or anything. It all looked so cheap and vapid, completely bereft of anything resembling design.

I kind of hate modern cars. ******* rolling eggs.

I don't mind massive touchscreens, I just don't want A/C and essential functions to be buried behind menus or capacitive buttons instead of physical buttons. It doesn't have to be mutually exclusive.

Big screens in your peripheral are good for Waze to warn of road hazards and cops, and Google Maps to warn of slow traffic so you can start coasting in advance. Radar detectors are not legal in Ontario.

 

[nfitz]

I don't mind massive touchscreens, I just don't want A/C and essential functions to be buried behind menus or capacitive buttons instead of physical buttons. It doesn't have to be mutually exclusive.

Are we likely to see touchscreen A/C controls - I'd think that would be too dangerous.

I checked out the 2026 Honda Civic controls the other day, and it's still a pretty convention compared to 2014 for AC and radio (though my wife said I should have checked the cruise-control too).

I'm not particularly familiar with other recent domestic cars - or any foreign-built cars.

 

[urbanclient]

Are we likely to see touchscreen A/C controls - I'd think that would be too dangerous.

I checked out the 2026 Honda Civic controls the other day, and it's still a pretty convention compared to 2014 for AC and radio (though my wife said I should have checked the cruise-control too).

I'm not particularly familiar with foreign-built cars though.

If I'm reading this correctly, you're saying many cars don't have A/C controls buried in the touch screen?

Anecdotally, I have a car where half the A/C controls are only in menus. Suboptimal. But it's not an EV.

A lot of middle-aged car journalists love rotary dials and smaller screens while hating massive touchscreens. I disagree. I only see a problem with tech-ificiation if essential functions are only accessible through screens or finicky capacitive buttons like some VWs had.

Who actually dislikes physical buttons? Car manufacturers wanting to save costs?