Why do Renault and PSA bother making RHD versions of cars like the Vel Satis / 607/ C6?
You see a fair number in France and a few in Italy, but they're a serious rarity over here and in Ireland/
Surely there can't be that many senior diplomats in RHD countries...
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Corporate willy-waving. The French are a notoriously haughty bunch and have to have their executive cars in every market to show they have a quality side to the business.
/casual racism ;)
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They do it so that they can at least sell one to every dealer that they have in the country. They then demonstrate it for a while and sell on a discount.
2 to 3 years later Joe Bloggs will be able to pick up a luxury barge for about 30% of the original price and get, usualy, a damn good car for the money!
So don't try and put them off!!
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You honestly and seriously expect The French President and the Prime Minister and all the officials to run around in a Jaguar? or (heaven forbid even worse) A German car?
So we have French Luxo barges and always will have French Luxo barges.
Dont forget this policy brought us the DS! For which you should all be eternally grateful that someone made such a magnificent beast.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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yes, but why convert them to rhd??
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Pride
The one L/h drive car that would have sold in bucket loads over here was the Twingo. And it never came.
Ok small profit margin on that after r/h drive conversion, but as a luxo barge costs about 20% more to make that a mid size family car yet sells for 80% more there is a fat margin to play with for r/h drive conversion costs.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Makes sense.
Shame the Twingo never came over, definitely one design they got right. I remember seeing it for the first time c.1993 - couldn´t believe it.
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Why do Renault and PSA bother making RHD versions of cars like the Vel Satis / 607/ C6?
I don't know why many manufacturers bother to do RHD cars - in fact some don't. It would be a lot easier, and give us more choice and a more open market, if we simply switched to LHD.
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>> Why do Renault and PSA bother making RHD versions of >> cars like the Vel Satis / 607/ C6? >> I don't know why many manufacturers bother to do RHD cars - in fact some don't. It would be a lot easier, and give us more choice and a more open market, if we simply switched to LHD.
Good idea in theory, but the DfT's experiments on the viability of a switchover were pretty disastrous. The bloke they sent out to test the feasibility of driving on the right was a nervous wreck after the first day, and police phone lines were jammed with complaints ;)
(sorry, I know it's an old one ...)
Name-change time: NoWheels + Almera = NowWheels
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Everyone else should drive on the correct side of the road.
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>> >> Why do Renault and PSA bother making RHD versions of >> >> cars like the Vel Satis / 607/ C6? >> >> >> I don't know why many manufacturers bother to do RHD cars >> - in fact some don't. It would be a lot >> easier, and give us more choice and a more open market, >> if we simply switched to LHD. Good idea in theory, but the DfT's experiments on the viability of a switchover were pretty disastrous. The bloke they sent out to test the feasibility of driving on the right was a nervous wreck after the first day, and police phone lines were jammed with complaints ;) (sorry, I know it's an old one ...) Name-change time: NoWheels + Almera = NowWheels
Sweden managed to switch from driving on the Left to the Right without any major problems.... (mind you, that was a few decades ago!)
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MoneyMart
On order : Audi RS4 4.2V8 Quattro Vrooooom!
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You honestly and seriously expect The French President and the Prime Minister and all the officials to run around in a Jaguar? or (heaven forbid even worse) A German car?
Did you not read of the problems for 10 Downing Street & Chaufeured Cras?
The British Rover 75 was the car of choice but no longer available
Ministerial cars considered were Mercs & BMWs but they are deemed to be German (although could be made in YSA/Sth Africa, India etc) but the US Ford Owned Jaguar is now the Govt Ministers cars in future.
Obviously No 10 had the same sort of problems as the President of France - not wanting ministers to drive around in cars deemed to be from "Overseas"
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Although we lose out on some US and European models which they do not bother to convert to RHD we do on the other hand gain the odd Japanese car which they do not bother to convert to LHD so it's not all one way.
Did the Holden/Vauxhall Monero get converted to LHD and sold as an Opel?
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Yeah, Sweden made the switch in 1967, but weren't their cars already LHD, so switching was an inevitable action (the amount of cars on Sweden's roads, especially in 1967, would make this FAR less hazardous than if it occurred here in the UK).
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Sweden managed to switch from driving on the Left to the Right without any major problems.... (mind you, that was a few decades ago!)
Back in the 1960's - before they had motorway junctions to change!
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