this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2025
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Buy European

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[–] qyron@sopuli.xyz 5 points 4 hours ago

Skoda is part of VAG, which is currently buying engines from Ford.

[–] RandomPrivacyGuy@lemm.ee 10 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

I mean, hardly anyone buys american cars in Europe to begin with.

[–] tehsYs@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Ford is kind of big in europe. Stelantis is also partly american.

[–] Patch@feddit.uk 5 points 5 hours ago

Stellantis is far more European than American. They're headquartered in Europe, and 10 of their 15 active marques are European (4 are American, 1 is Chinese).

They're global, but they're globally European.

[–] shekau@lemmy.today 2 points 10 hours ago

Most Fords are produced in Europe

[–] ddash@lemmy.dbzer0.com 44 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Or, if you can, don't buy any car.

And I know, depending where you live that may not be possible.

[–] NotJohnSmith@feddit.uk 12 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

I'm making this work, sort of, in that I live in a one-bus-a-week village but swapped my car out 3yrs back for an electric moped.

Its so much cheaper and nice that a car isn't lying around unused. I was ready to suck up the cost of hire cars/taxis but have maybe had 1 or 2 in that period.

Like you say, it has to work for you but I think most don't realise how car ownership doesn't have to be a thing

[–] ddash@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 15 hours ago

Didn't expect someone to agree who lives in a village, interesting and kudos to you! I live in suburbs of a big city with good public transport options. And whenever that's not enough there's a commercial car sharing provider at a parking space down the road. Plus cycling of course.

[–] casmael@lemm.ee 10 points 17 hours ago (3 children)
[–] ArchmageAzor@lemmy.world 5 points 13 hours ago

Volkswagen, Volvo, Citroën, Renault, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Porsche, Aston Martin, Bentley, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mini, Peugeot, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Fiat, Lamborghini, Maserati, Koeningsegg.

[–] bob_lemon@feddit.org 5 points 17 hours ago

Yes, but cheaper.

[–] Akasazh@feddit.nl 2 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

I have French Skoda, aka Dacia

[–] casmael@lemm.ee 2 points 15 hours ago
[–] Geometrinen_Gepardi@sopuli.xyz 14 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

Skoda's progress is pretty impressive. In the 80s they were still producing miserable commie shitboxes. Nowadays they're on par with the other big EU manufacturers.

[–] NoXPhasma@lemmy.world 29 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

Not a big surprise, Skoda is fully owned by Volkswagen since 2000.

[–] Patch@feddit.uk 3 points 5 hours ago

I own a Skoda (and am pretty happy with it). When I bought it, the advice was basically "never buy an actual VW": Skoda and Seat are nearly identical cars at a massive discount. Why get a Golf when a Leon or Octavia is right there...

[–] Thorry84@feddit.nl 9 points 19 hours ago

Cars can get very confusing.

My car is a German brand, at the time of production owned by Volkswagen (like so many brands). Based on an American design, produced in South Korea and "finished" in Germany. That way it could be sold as a German car, but I suspect the finishing was only paperwork and applying stickers.

[–] RejZoR@lemmy.ml 5 points 19 hours ago

Fun fact, before commies took over, Škoda was so ahead of time with its cars. Even now that they are owned by VW, they have the best designs and quality out of the VW group.

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 14 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (3 children)

Simply clever

edit: Skoda is a brand I've literally only heard of (from here in Australia) because they advertise constantly on the Tour de France every year. Their tagline is burned into my brain.

This is neither a good nor a bad thing. It simply is.

[–] allrian@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago) (1 children)

There are some simply clever ideas indeed, like

  • 5 little knobbies at the bottom of the drink holder, so you can open a bottle of water with one hand without looking
  • a little umbrella in the door/under seat, because we never have one handy if needed
  • ice scraper in the fuel cap, accessible from outside and can be stored when wet
  • little plastic flap at the inside of the windshield, which can hold the parking tickets
  • standard wall plug between seat
  • ...

The usermanual even has a section with these simpy clever things ;-)

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 3 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

ice scraper in the fuel cap, accessible from outside and can be stored when wet

As an Australian, I cannot express how little I care for this feature. 😅

The other ones you mentioned sound pretty neat though.

[–] amotio@lemmy.world 5 points 20 hours ago

One could say that their advertisement is - simply clever. Bot I might be biased Czech citizen.

[–] MY_ANUS_IS_BLEEDING@lemm.ee 1 points 14 hours ago

They're nice practical cars and good value for money but a bit boring. I test drove a few recently but went for a faster VW Golf in the end because the Skoda's were a bit too bland. Same issue with Kia.

[–] BestBouclettes@jlai.lu 10 points 19 hours ago (2 children)

Bit of a shame they got Volkswagened. Their cars now look roughly the same as other Volkswagens brands.

[–] Brewchin@lemmy.world 1 points 13 minutes ago

Everyone likes a bit of VAG, surely? 😉

[–] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 9 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Well, it's good if you want to buy Volkswagen Quality without paying Volkswagen prices.

[–] Darkmoon_UK@lemm.ee 2 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

Exactly, I couldn't be happier with my Octavia. Well rounded, practical family hatchback with a VW engine and all the mod cons; it hasn't skipped a beat in 5 years and going strong. Will be looking to buy Skoda again next time.

[–] Otiz@sopuli.xyz 4 points 17 hours ago

Simply clever

[–] BogusCabbage@lemmy.world 6 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Of all the Volkswagen Group brands (Audi, Bentley, Cupra, Jetta, Lamborghini, Porsche, SEAT, Škoda) Skoda is top tier. Octavia RS wagons are one of my favorite current production cars on the road

[–] RidderSport@feddit.org 4 points 17 hours ago (3 children)

Jetta is just a car model (VW) while Cupra is basically a model line that is sporty (Seat) at least it used to be

[–] vaionko@sopuli.xyz 3 points 16 hours ago

Nowadays Cupra is basically a brand, they don't say Seat on them anywhere. Yeah Jetta is just one VW model.

[–] BogusCabbage@lemmy.world 1 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Yes and No. Jetta although being a VW model, it is also the creation of a joint venture between VWAG and FAW group, Covering only Russia, China and Iran. The brand name was chosen based on all of the car line ups originated from just being rebadged Jettas, but has since expanded to other platforms

[–] RidderSport@feddit.org 1 points 13 hours ago

Oh I didn't know that

[–] MY_ANUS_IS_BLEEDING@lemm.ee 1 points 14 hours ago

Cupra is its own brand now, they've started making cars that are not based on SEAT's lineup.

[–] Keener@lemm.ee 5 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (2 children)

Skoda are (or, were?) the go to for taxi drivers in Ireland because of their reliability. See a lot of Dacia these days

[–] AFC1886VCC@reddthat.com 1 points 7 hours ago

Lmao it's true, every taxi driver here drives a Skoda Octavia.

[–] MY_ANUS_IS_BLEEDING@lemm.ee 0 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

In the UK every taxi is a Prius for the same reason.

[–] Horse@lemmygrad.ml 0 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (1 children)
[–] MY_ANUS_IS_BLEEDING@lemm.ee 0 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (1 children)

Your own link says that it's the #1 car for taxis lmao. Learn to read, lemmygrad.

[–] Horse@lemmygrad.ml 0 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

most popular means every now does it?
7.4% isn't even a majority

learn to statistics

[–] The_Che_Banana@beehaw.org 4 points 20 hours ago

I also enjoy the EU meme templates