Fandom Rivalry / Automobiles

• SUV drivers vs EV or hybrid drivers. The latter sees the former as wasteful and self-centered. The former sees the later as whiny and effeminate.
• The Nissan Leaf vs. the Chevrolet Volt, being that they were the two main choices for an electric car in the 2010s, the two cars that ranked the highest in safety for 2011, and that the Volt won Motor Trend American Car of the Year while the Leaf won European car of the year, both in 2011. The rivalry passed into history when GM ended Volt production in 2019.
  • There's also the issue of whether or not the Chevrolet Volt counts as an "Electric" car, or if it's a Hybrid. Both sides of the argument point to the combustion generator in the Chevrolet Volt vs the pure battery electric Nissan Leaf, despite both having a pure electric drive train. In the end it boils down to the Leaf driver saying "It's not electric, it's just a stupid hybrid." and the Volt driver replying "Is so electric, and the generator give it a further range while still using less gas then a pure gasoline car would!" That's right. Electric car drivers will argue over where the electricity comes from.
  • It's worth noting that the Chevrolet Bolt is a pure battery-powered EV like the Leaf or every Tesla model, while the Volt is a plug-in hybrid with a gasoline engine, more akin to a Civic Hybrid or a Prius.
  • Tesla in general vs. everybody else. They're credited with making the pure battery electric car not just a Cool Car (which the Leaf, Bolt, Volt and Prius are decidedly not), but something that will out-accelerate most gas-powered supercars from 0 to 60, on top of being more technologically sophisticated and having far more frequently updated software for the in-car systems than their rivals. However, their emphasis on form over function in some design aspects and their fanbase have drawn them some very unflattering comparisons to Apple, on top of certain car owners insisting that only real cars run on fossil fuels. Software bugs and insecurity concerns have also earned Tesla more than a few detractors.
• Holden vs Ford in Australia - both companies have a long history in the country, and there is also spillover from their rivalry on the racing circuit. The Ford Falcon vs. Holden Commodore rivalry in particular parallels the Ford Mustang vs. Chevrolet Camaro rivalry in the US.
  Too bad the Australian government killed off their domestic auto industry entirely. It remains to be seen whether the Mustang and Camaro (see below) shipped over from the US will fill the void.
• Harley-Davidson vs. Indian motorcycles. Vicious when both companies were still around, still exists to some degree among classic motorcycle collectors.
  • Also Harleys versus Japanese bikes. The former calls the latter "rice-burners", while the latter says they call them Harleys because they Harley ever run.
• Chevrolet vs. Ford is probably the great granddaddy of automotive rivalries in the US, especially for pickups. Foreign vs. domestic used to start fistfights in the 70s and 80s, but that feud has mellowed a bit over time. A bit.
  "Foreign" cars are still banned from the parking lot of the headquarters of the United Auto Workers union in Detroit, though what's "foreign" and what's "domestic" has blurred quite a bit in more recent times, particularly with General Motors' penchant for rebranding an import with a domestic marque - one of the better-known examples being the Pontiac G8/Chevrolet SS actually being an Australian-made Holden Commodore.
  • Nothing highlights this rivalry more than the Ford Mustang vs. the Chevrolet Camaro, the latter of which was introduced by General Motors as "a small, vicious animal that eats Mustangs", squarely intended as their competitor in the "pony car" market segment that Ford just created.
  • In the southern states of the USA, pickups might as well be a way of life, and Ford vs. Chevy vs. Ram^* Chrysler spun off its pickups and full-size vans from Dodge in 2010 rivalries are intense. Each has extensive aftermarket parts catalogs, devoted fans, rabid detractors, and enough fandumb to fill the flatbed of every truck in Texas.
    Hoping to capitalize on the sales of pickups in the southern states, Toyota built a plant to build its line in San Antonio, Texas. Toyota hoped to make their trucks seem more "genuinely southern" to consumers. Despite good reviews from automotive magazines and critics, the hoped-for cultural shift to accept the Tundra as a "real good ol' boy pickup" hasn't really happened as of 2015, especially after the Ford F-Series, Ram Pickup, and Chevy Silverado all underwent significant quality improvement.
    But for what it's worth, Toyota's Made of Indestructium reputation for their pickups has not gone unnoticed in the South; the pre-Tacoma "Pickup" (the Hilux nameplate was never used in the US) of the '80s and early '90s is in consistent demand on the used market, for those who favor compact pickup trucks over full-size models.
  • On the subject of Toyota, with Japanese cars having overtaken American cars in reliability and sales since the '80s and '90s, Honda vs Toyota has become a prominent rivalry among American car owners, and that's even without throwing in the fact that most cars from both companies are actually built in the US.
• Pontiac Fiero GT vs. Toyota MR2. This plays a bit into the American "domestic vs. import" debate, this time over who provided the better mid-engine, two-seat, rear-wheel-drive sporty coupe with a fuel-efficient engine and the most '80s styling one can muster.
  The Fiero was introduced in 1984 as an economy car, effectively Nerfed from its original intent as a high-performance car that would have compromised the Chevrolet Corvette being reintroduced that year, and the Corvette is effectively GM's Sacred Cow. It wasn't given the intended V6 until the next year on the Fiero GT variant, and the original 1984 models had some faulty engine components used that led to spontaneous combustion that tarnished its reputation despite being fixed in later model years. It also didn't have the intended performance suspension until 1988 - the final year of production, as GM killed the Fiero right as they finally got it right.
  The MR2, on the other hand, saw much more success over the years with expected Toyota reliability, well-tuned suspension and handling, and actually getting two more generations into the '90s onward. The early AW11 generation even shares the 4A-GE engine with the famed AE86, with an optional supercharger on some models, and the later SW20 generation offered even more power and turbocharger options, with additional tendency for snap oversteer that only a skilled driver would correct.
• Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution vs. Subaru Impreza WRX STI, obviously. They're high performance rally cars built for the WRC, and having huge fanbases for each side. They're also the ones captured by the tuner markets, and were brought over by their respective makers to the global attention. However, the rivalry ended in 2014 when Mitsubishi Motors announced the discontinuation of Lancer Evolution linedue to it being a commercial failure, leaving Subaru alone to develop their own WRX STI line.
  • The German-made Audi S3 Sedan can be considered a Spiritual Successor to the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution line, utilizing the similar engine and drivetrain configurations, except it abandoned the huge rear-wing in favor of more-streamlined, Rosemeyer-style approach.
• In Japan, there is a giant rivalry between the Nissan Skyline (R34) and the Toyota Supra (JZA80). They are both high performance Japanese cars that feature a high-output inline-6 engine. Both are also popular among the tuner crowd.
• In Germany, it's BMW vs Mercedes. Audi has somewhat entered the stage, but may be ignored.
  • With younger people it is often the current Golf GTI vs whatever Opel offers in the segment.
• Generally, mentioning that you like either European, American, or Japanese cars on any automotive forum will get you flak from fans of the other two camps. If you like American cars, prepare to hear numerous Eagle Land "yank tank" and "your car can't turn" comments. If you like Japanese cars, prepare to hear Rice Burner, "tiny wimpy" and "no torque" comments. If you like European cars, prepare to hear "whiny rich-kids" and "poor reliability" comments.