European car manufacturers produce very expensive, over-powered gas-guzzling automobiles IN VERY SMALL NUMBERS for very rich purchasers. The fact that the purchasers are very rich is a consequence of supply-and-demand factors, as is the very small number of such vehicles produced. The very small numbers of such vehicles means that they have a negligible effect on global fossil fuel consumption. More informative is that the average European private motor vehicle is a small fuel efficient car, about half of them with diesel engines for better fuel economy, rather than the ubiquitous gas-guzzling pickups and SUVs typical of Canada and the US. Fuel prices, it would appear, DO  effect vehicle choice and fuel consumption.