Had to check up on Wikipedia. It was set to 180% in 1977, with no real reason. I'm pretty sure it was meant as temporary.

But yeah the fact that we have no real lobby apart from dealers and the car owners association. That and the fact that quite a lot of people hate cars. Being from the rural parts of Denmark where cars are a nessesity and moving to the second biggest city in the contry was quite a shock to me.

The 180% tax is not that big a mystery to me any more. I don't talk taxes with many of my old dorm friends as they simply can't see the need to lower it. But that is easy to say when they live within biking distance of everything they need.

I still see them. At least when they need a car for moving.

Should charge them a moving fee, with a 180% tax on top. :)

The fact that Denmark does not have a car industry has played an important role.

This is a very big reason. Sweden and Germany have auto industry with very strong (politically) unions, ensuring that laws and taxes are beneficial to national industry. Norway and Denmark are very similar to Sweden in many ways, but only Sweden has auto industry and Norway/Denmark have much higher car prices.