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I realize that some of what I'm about to say could be a bit too generalized. But seemingly from what I've read and heard from others on across from the pond from our friends in the EU is that the general opinion of American cars ( as in actual American brands and models ) is that they're clunky, gas-guzzling, poorly-built rubbish with crappy plastic interiors. As such actual American cars in the EU make a teeny blip on the radar when it comes to sales, many which have to be imported via specialty importers.
Much of this perception comes from the types of cars American carmakers spewed out for decades and thus perhaps they can't be blamed for thinking this. But to me this opinion is now so grossly outdated and some of the cars that are now being sold like the Cadillac ATS, CTS, The Chevy Volt ( built in the US and sold in the EU as the Opel Ampera) as well as some of the offerings from Ford and Chrysler are every bit as compelling and competitive as any of the EU brands. Yet this seems to have not caught on over there.
I guess I just find it a tad irritating seeing as how we in the US seem to have absolutely no problem at least trying or buying cars from just about anywhere. In that regard perhaps we're more 'adventurous' consumers. But in the Eu it would seem that the attitude is: " Oh- I'll never buy any of those American cars because they're all crappy and plasticy products" On the other hand there are multitudes of EU brand cars in the US that have had notoriously awful reliability and build quality issues yet people buy them anyway.
Perhaps its because some Americans make an assumption that anything from the EU is automatically more sophisticated than anything from the home turf. Maybe a good comparison is beer. There are still a lot of people who think that imported beer is automatically better than American beer- American meaning the watered down swill from the big beer makers versus the over 5,000 American microbreweries that now make many beers that are now winning major international awards.
So perhaps this is a complex discussion. Will American cars ever gain any significant foothold in the EU and additionally, will the likes of Cadillac ever be seen there with the same perception as some of the EU brands are perceived in the US?
I don't live in the EU so perhaps I've got it all wrong, and yes- we all know Ford is big over there but those models are in many cases specifically European models that many who live there consider their own.
I am not sure the perception has significantly changed even in the US. Tons of Americans view the Detroit brands the same way. Poorly made, cheaply built, and not as reliable. Whether or not those labels fit is often up for debate.
Long established perceptions are very, very difficult to change, even if the product is excellent.
I think the biggest problem is the fact that American manufacturers have had little success at making money anywhere on small to medium size vehicles - predominant cars for European and Asian markets.
If it would not be for the trucks, with their "profits" on most sedans, the big 3 would've been out of business. Of course, one could argue that they would've had to change priorities and be forced to properly engineer a smaller vehicle.
Its only been more recently that the Big three got more serious about small and medium sized passenger cars. Who can remember the rather forgettable Cobalt or the Cavalier it replaced? Those cars were abysmal. I rented a Cobalt in Hawaii a few years ago and the car was so horrible to drive I returned it an hour later and upgraded to a Chevy Malibu ( 2007 model) and it was only marginally better. On the other hand I drove a Chevy Cruze recently on a trip and it was a blast to drive and it also seemed well-made and got close to 40MPG.
I think that same regard can be given to Cadillac in that as late as 5-6 years ago they were still selling the DTS and STS which were more or less big floaty cars they were infamous for making forever. But now the ATS and CTS seem to be competent, well executed cars that should hold up just fine against the competition. I can't help but think that if I lived in say- Germany and the most common cars were the likes of BMW, Mercedes, and Audi, I'd want something different and if the CTS or ATS were available, I'd consider them as they would be more unique.
But then again, as someone here already mentioned, perceptions are very hard to change and if that perception still exists even in the US, its probably going to take that much longer in the EU.
Ford already has a pretty decent presence in the EU and GM basically sells a lot of their cars in the EU under different branding (Opel, etc). There are particular models like the Mustang and Corvette that wouldn't sell particularly well but Ford is downsizing the next gen Mustang for this reason and the C7 Corvette looks the way it does so that it will be more appealing overseas.
You have to remember that Detroit had to put out bad products for decades before Americans really tried and embraced foreign autos in appreciable numbers. For what its worth, European brands have always been around 10% market share in the US, but the big change we saw from the 70s to the 90s was Japanese makes displacing American makes, and from the 2000s on, Korean makes displacing some of both. European brands continue to be a small portion of the market as they tend to exist on the mid to luxury markets where sales volumes are lower.
In Europe, many "American" cars were different in that they were built independently of true American cars, and were typically nicer. Those few cars that were exported from the USA to Europe were not always a good fit for Europe, its smaller roads, and right-hand drive countries. That, plus they weren't built very well or priced cheap compared to domestic competition, didn't help sales.
Today, for the first time in history, GM has some products that can honestly compete with European makes, but new products aren't going to change decades of opinion over night. Ford is one of Europe's best automakers and it has struggled for two decades to make "world" cars that sell well both in Europe and the USA. Americans have particular tastes in vehicles that are not shared with the rest of the world so its hard to sell the same product without significant changes.
lot depends on the market reuirements. Gm and Ford are not goi got invest alot in EU emisons cars at the numbers likely to be sold. Its much like EU cars in US of these types.Gm and others are much more popualr and aim at the car slles i emrging marl ktes where the sales future is much greater.Loking at Gm EU compoetitotrs in that catagory they alos are in trouble even more than GM.look at Fiat sells ;looks like when they tried the US market before.
I suppose I'd like to know how it was determined that cars like the Mustang and Camaro wouldn't sell well there. The reason I ask is that if you were to pick out cars made today that are unquestionably American, it would be those two cars. They're only $25,000-$30,000 on average in the US, and that places them well below the cost of even some of the entry level EU sedans. I am assuming there are major taxes involved.
I suppose I'd like to know how it was determined that cars like the Mustang and Camaro wouldn't sell well there. The reason I ask is that if you were to pick out cars made today that are unquestionably American, it would be those two cars. They're only $25,000-$30,000 on average in the US, and that places them well below the cost of even some of the entry level EU sedans. I am assuming there are major taxes involved.
The problem is that sitting inside an entry level EU sedan and then sitting inside a Camaro makes you feel like you've just gotten out of a Bentley and entered a garbage dump. The 2010+ Mustang interiors aren't great either but they are definitely better than the Camaro's and significantly better than any prior Mustang. The Corvette interiors are pretty low rent as well which is why I'm excited to see what a C7 interior feels/looks like in person.
One very big factor as far as car buying in the EU is concerned is diesel.
For various reasons, mainly fiscal, diesels make up a very large percentage of car sales. Very big strides have been made in improving these engines especially in the last decade.
They are clean, very frugal, refined and powerful. At the top end a 3.0 litre twin turbo diesel 5 Series BMW would outperform a 1970's Ferrari and could also return over 40 mpg (US) if driven sensibly.
American cars tend not to be competitive with these engines and so are either not imported or sell in low numbers.
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