I saw a Seat Ibiza yesterday on my drive to work. I was stoked! I didn't think it was very special, but it was cool to see. It was from Mexico. So was the 128i hatchback I saw.

I think I stated the problem with these cars coming to the us. First off, we've never had the majority of our market be small cars like Latin America or Europe has. So we aren't used to being able to differentiate between all the models. We have too many others from Town Car to Smart Car. We have too much range volume not even including trucks. It just hasn't been our culture. Secondly, like I said earlier, the Seat didn't really stand out in traffic. Not much of the buying public would be able to recognize an Ibiza from a Matrix. This is why small cars don't succeed well here. Or partly anyway. A quirky small car that's fun to drive costs as much as a lower optioned Camry. Do you know how much room is in a Camry?

See what I did there?

 

I'm pretty sure it was an AZ plate. It began "MT..." then the numbers, so not a plate I've seen before. I know various companies test their cars in this area. Is the Scirocco available in Mexico?

 

I saw a couple Sciroccos here in FL a few years ago because there's an Audi test facility here... And there have been many Focus RS sightings in Detroit. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean we're getting any of them.

 

According to VAG, there are no North American Scirocco. No plans to bring them over either.

 

That doesn't mean there aren't some testing or driving around here. I followed a Lamborghini Gallardo around Tampa and took some pictures (despite the little Italian guy telling us not to) before there were any pictures of it anywhere. I only knew it was a Gallardo because I knew it wasn't a Murci.

And like I said, I saw late model Scirrocos here, too.

 

Another one, Chevrolet Cruze hatchback.