10 Comments

1. Terry says:

   November 14, 2008 at 9:59 am

   Not entirely clear what this chart is designed to illustrate. Now that gas has come down, I am glad I didn’t dump my Ram pick-up….the problem may not be with the cars and sales but rather with service….servicing my Ram pickup has been infinitely easier and less expensive than with my previous Jags…..no sense buying a car if it’s going to be a pain to service and it will be a long time before I ever go Euro again….
2. Paul says:

   November 14, 2008 at 10:29 am

   The Europeans are much more loyal to their marques, both politically and personally than we Americans. (except for the British who really do’t have any large homegrown manufacturers, Vauxall is GM). The French are loyal to Renault, Peugot, and Citroen, Italians to Fiat, Germans to VW, BMW, Mercedes etc. They consider Asian cars inferior, and American cars they laugh at.
3. Ward says:

   November 14, 2008 at 10:55 am

   Paul — you’re right, judging by the commentary on Top Gear (Vauxhall being mocked there as regularly as GM and British Leyland).
4. peter scott says:

   November 14, 2008 at 11:40 am

   http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/11/14/notes111408.DTL
5. Dan says:

   November 14, 2008 at 1:47 pm

   I don’t with the demise of the US auto industry, but an unintentional benefit may be the introduction of some new marquees in the States; French and Italian mainstream cars, Skoda, SEAT, and others. Knowing our luck, though, cheap Chinese brands will probably fill in the gaps. Anyone see the spy photos for the 2010 Chery Happy Lucky Panda Dragon Star LS?

   Honda supposedly has the same reputation in Europe that Buick has in the US; a very conservative brand of unexcitin but reliable vehicles for the over-65 crowd.
6. Patrick says:

   November 14, 2008 at 4:42 pm

   To be fair, Euro brands, with the exception of VW, BMW, and Benz – all German – aren’t really marketed to the U.S.

   I’d also guess the import tax on Asian brands into Europe would be outrageous. Most all of those Asian brands are produced here, so they avoid any major importing costs. The same generally can’t be said for Euro brands sold here.

   People want inexpensive cars, wherever they live. 9 out of 10 cars on the American list retail for under $20,000. Very few people want or even need cars that cost much more than that.

   Don’t forget, too, that gas in Europe is much pricier than here. The Euro brands already get decent fuel economy vs. size; why need the Asian brands?
7. hank says:

   November 14, 2008 at 4:58 pm

   One of my british customers (who owns a 59 LeSabre and 2 Escalades) says right now Petrol is 12.00 USD/Gallon.

   I nearly dumped my 05 F-150 when gas hit 4.25 a gallon for a Ranger with a 4 cyl. Now quite glad I didn’t. I would have lost my ass on it, even though I only owe 10K on it.

   Interesting, that the Ram, F-150 and Silverado—all gas sucking big cars, are on the top 10.
8. Terry says:

   November 14, 2008 at 7:45 pm

   @hank—men can’t smoke cigars, drink, or pinch broads in the ass without being arrested, so the only way to espouse masculinity is to drive a pick-up……
9. al-alo says:

   November 15, 2008 at 10:37 pm

   see: http://www.theonion.com/content/news/ford_reintroduces_model_t_line
10. Lead Dog says:

    November 16, 2008 at 11:51 am

    The big difference is that the Europeans protect their markets (and workers) from Asia, we do not. Period.