One the things that makes Americans unique is our love and hate relationship with the car. In the original glory of automobile industry we willfully transformed our society to depend on this mode of transportation. Now that we depend on them so greatly, they have combined with one of our other great love and hate relationship. More specifically, we have become a nation that does a lot of eating while driving. And even when we’re not eating something, you can generally find at least one travel coffee mug in a cup holder.
This is one of the little things that separate US made vehicles from imports. US cars almost always had more cup holders than European on Asian models. The European cars brought to the US either focused on the luxury high end or the inexpensive entry level car. In both cases, cup holder were sparse. In the beginning with Japanese vehicles it was generally about low cost entry level vehicle. Again, these tended to be short on cup holders.
But with US makes, even inexpensive cars would tend to have a couple of places to put a coffee mug or cup. But now it’s a different story. Overseas car makers have managed to at least catch up if not surpass US makers in the cup holder battle. For example, a late model Toyota mini-van comes with no less than 13 cup holders arranged throughout the vehicle.
It’s not just about sheer numbers though. Some of the car makers are still trying to figure this one out. For example, designing an interior where the cup holder sits right above the stereo system and climate controls is just a bad idea. It is just way too easy for a hot, steamy, sticky drink to spill into the sensitive controls and ruin any displays. This is an issue with 2002 Audi’s and several other vehicles.
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