In Europe, fuel taxes are high. In Turkey, taxes are high but also the income is much lower.
As a result, in EU the cars tend to be much more smaller and economical than those in the USA. In Turkey, the cars are like the cars in EU but the engines are much less powerful and fuel economy is everything. In Turkey, the car that the average Joe would buy will have 1.0 to 1.6 engine. Anything larger is reserved for the rich.
However I would like to note that, not only the fuel taxes are high but also the car taxes are high. In fact, the taxes in Turkey are so high on the powerful and expensive cars that it started catching World Wide attention[0].
But I would be careful on overtaxing. In Turkey's case, cars are so expensive that it's like buying a house. People take very long term loans to buy these things, which greatly reduces the disposable income and the life quality. On the flip side, cars value don't depreciate as quickly as in the USA or EU. Cars in Turkey tend to be well maintained and very few clunkers would be on the road(unlike Eastern Europe) and once you get a car, you can actually upgrade it after few years much easily since the old one will hold it's value pretty well.
As a result, from environmental and safety perspective taxing high works but it comes at a great cost of life quality. I would prefer the EU approach. Taxes are still high but not excessive and goals of reducing emissions are achieved through regulation instead of tax pressure.
I agree with this policy entirely, singapore has similar high taxes on cars. It is possible to build cities, and countries, in such a way that cars are mostly unnecessary. In a pedestrian first design, with bikes and public transportation, you do not need a car. Cars are dangerous (to pedestrians, and drivers and other drivers), environmentally harmful, wasteful, noisy things. Outside of some rural areas, and businesses, cars are not necessary, and should not be necessary day to day for 95%+ of people. Even with Buses a bus moves many more people more efficiently than a car. Autonomous trolleys, trains, buses are an easier problem than cars since you can have set routes. Electtric buses exist. Its really unfortunate so many societies are set up around the rich and cars.
It's horrible for cars, electronics and Alcohol. The base model iPhone 13 Pro is 1850$ in Turkey(the min. salary is 330$).
There's this thing called ÖTV, or "excise tax" which is applied to everything that is not basic biological need, essentially.
It's not just very high(%50 for the cheapest and least powerful cars and goes to a few hundred percent for the luxury ones) but also it is applied before VAT, so you pay VAT on the tax too.
Oh, maybe you can just buy stuff from abroad, right? Nope, very hard to import cars. Phones are required to be registered to you passport or the carriers would block the IMEI after few months and you guessed it right the registration fee is high(300$) and you can do it once veery 2 years. Maybe you can bring alcohol at least? Nope, max 2 litres per passenger allowed and it is again match to you passport.
As a result, in EU the cars tend to be much more smaller and economical than those in the USA. In Turkey, the cars are like the cars in EU but the engines are much less powerful and fuel economy is everything. In Turkey, the car that the average Joe would buy will have 1.0 to 1.6 engine. Anything larger is reserved for the rich.
However I would like to note that, not only the fuel taxes are high but also the car taxes are high. In fact, the taxes in Turkey are so high on the powerful and expensive cars that it started catching World Wide attention[0].
But I would be careful on overtaxing. In Turkey's case, cars are so expensive that it's like buying a house. People take very long term loans to buy these things, which greatly reduces the disposable income and the life quality. On the flip side, cars value don't depreciate as quickly as in the USA or EU. Cars in Turkey tend to be well maintained and very few clunkers would be on the road(unlike Eastern Europe) and once you get a car, you can actually upgrade it after few years much easily since the old one will hold it's value pretty well.
As a result, from environmental and safety perspective taxing high works but it comes at a great cost of life quality. I would prefer the EU approach. Taxes are still high but not excessive and goals of reducing emissions are achieved through regulation instead of tax pressure.
[0]"Why This $150,000 Porsche Costs $600,000 In Turkey?" https://jalopnik.com/why-this-150-000-porsche-costs-600-000-...