Why are American cars so unpopular around the world?

Some car companies have cornered the market due to their reputation for excellent products. And other companies have sabotaged themselves with a reputation for products that aren’t as good at the other companies.

I don’t know if this is true or not, but I’ve been told by multiple car enthusiasts that one of the differences between a Japanese company and an American company is that the Japanese take precision and quality more seriously.

Let’s say out of 100 random manifolds manufactured, there are 2 or 3 minor imperfections. One company might say “this is unacceptable, scrap those”, while another company might say “it’s still good, it won’t matter.” This is an example that was told to me that explained some of the differences between some foreign automakers and domestic automakers.

The size of roads would make a difference. When I was in the Netherlands the roads were super narrow. When I was in Germany the roads were really wide. Not sure about Spain.

And Europe pays a lot more than we do for petrol.

I don’t know about Spain, but I believe that both Ford and Chevrolet (Opel) sell more cars in the rest of the world than they do in the US.

I thought Ford was doing fairly decent in Europe?

European fuel systems are better as well as their fuel.

Yea, we have had Ford for years here, also in other parts of europe, but, they make European style cars, you can’t go in to a Ford dealership here and get a Ford Mustang, it’s just not going to happen.

As for chevrolet here, they make more American looking cars, but the dealerships are rare, and even so, it’s still not the real deal.

One example:
When Top Gear tested the Corvette (z06 i think), the interior started to literally fall apart on its own.

Ford sells well in the UK and have the number 1 and number 2 best selling models this year. These are European made cars for European roads and not large American style vehicles.

Ford Fiesta vs Corvette

I don’t know if it’s just me, but sometimes it seems like American car marketing focuses on interior and features, while foreign marketing focuses on engine, suspension, and safety? Anyone else seen this?

In the 50’s and 60’s, Europe was at a large economic and exchange rate disadvantage to the USA, due to the aftermath of the Second World War. The US automotive industry was focused on US markets then too, and not suffering yet from competition with the Japanese or Germans (though American people were buying VW’s).

After the 70’s, American car body styles started to seriously suck (in my opinion, though so did other nations’ car body styles).

I imagine a lot of the “reason” is just circumstances and perception. US companies don’t care (or don’t do a good job of researching and understanding foreign markets and adapting to them, however you want to put it) about foreign markets enough to make themselves really competitive around the world, and Americans have been conditioned to want different things. Americans supposedly tend to want automatic transmissions, huge “comfortable” (as in, you are driving two or more giant sofas around, now with TV’s for everyone and other comfort features), high top speed and brute force rather than balance or efficient torque, there are giant lanes and massive parking lots in the USA, and many modern American homes look like a set of giant garage doors and you may have a hard time finding a front door because people drive in and enter the house through the garage.

By contrast, you have the Prime Minister of France wanting to outlaw SUV’s from the streets of Paris on the grounds that they are non-car abominations. :-D

Also, I’ve driven big American cars (and others) in the US, and I’ve driven in Europe. Imagining trying to drive in Paris, Rome, Milan or Florence, for example, in an American “land yacht”, I think it would be difficult to maintain the awareness and agility needed to flow with busy traffic that is flowing and swirling and using small spaces of opportunity. At least your yacht-car (taking more space than some European trucks) would tend to win collisions, but it doesn’t sound like fun to me, except if you wanted the attention.

Parking would often not be fun, either.

Actually in Asia, American cars are doing pretty well. China is GM’s biggest sales point right now.

In the past, American car manufacturers were absolutely tone deaf to the needs of other countries, such as selling left hand drive cars in Japan, which uses right hand drive.

Foreign cars were the first ones to install odometers that roll at a million miles, because US cars rarely rolled over 100K.

They are doing much better now overseas.

Different needs in different places around the world.
A small European or Japanese car would be almost useless to me for at least 6 months of the year. I have to drive through snow and ice and on gravel and dirt roads often. I normally don’t have to negotiate around cramped cities with older streets that were built for horse-drawn carts or modern cities that are built for smaller vehicles.
I’m sure that in other places around the world, people who have needs similar to mine drive larger vehicles, be they American made or not.

Also wouldn’t shipping an American made car to Europe of Asia be quite an expense?

“Also wouldn’t shipping an American made car to Europe of Asia be quite an expense?”

Not just the shipping. If one were to purchase a car in America and have it shipped to Europe or Asia, they would also have to have the car modified to be legal in those areas. I’m not sure how much modification would be needed, but I know it can add up to quite a bit of money very quickly depending on what’s needed.

I agree with everyone else about it just being a matter of what’s needed in that area vs. what’s available. When I see the size of some European and Asian roads, I am amazed by how small they are. There’s no way my Durango would fit on some of them, and forget about there being room for an oncoming lane of traffic to get by if I was in my Durango on those roads.

Does everyone in Europe really own a Ferrari or a BMW?

@woodcutter No. They mostly own economical brands, such as Fiat, Renault, VW, Toyota, etc.

American cars have a long reputation for being gas guzzlers. Hard to live that down when it’s been true for so long.

And gas costs a lot more in Europe.

As a non-American, the impression I have of American cars is they’re big heavy gas-guzzlers. We pay the equivalent of 12$ a gallon for fuel. We need small, light and efficient cars.

It depends where you live, they may be unpopular in your area, but here I’ve probably seen two Fiats in my life! Renaults? I’ve NEVER seen a Renault.

Ford is building a new plant in India b/c the demand for Ford cars and trucks is so high that’s how they will keep up with it.

So they aren’t unpopular “around the world,” they are just less popular in certain places than others, like every car.

In Beverly Hills you are guaranteed to see Ferrari’s, Lambo’s, Rolls Royces, and Bentleys every day. Beverly Hills is also the place where people who demand those vehicles live/play. (Another, more extreme example)

Welcome to the 21st century folks. The stereotypical American gas guzzlers are far and few in between now. So the fuel economy excuse is bunk. Some of the impediments are engine design although that could be a work around. Last time I was in Europe they didn’t have unleaded gas which is what US cars are designed to run on. Also there was a situation with the glass, driving lamps, etc. I think it is the hate America syndrome. What car dealer is going to have the balls to sell American cars, and more importantly what driver is going to sign up for dealing with the harassment of driving American? Old stereotypes and prejudices die hard.

Something else to ponder that some on here might know more about and that is the currency / exchange differences or trade regulations that aren’t suitable to get more US cars over seas but factories can be set up there.

Then there is the ever looming economic uncertainty that everyone has with each other’s finances. Maybe the Europeans worry that US car makers will go tits up and leave them holding the bag?

@mrrich724 I don’t know where you are, but where I live (Northern California) there are a lot of the new Fiat 500s, and back in the 80s and 90s there were a lot of Renaults, even some Puegeots.

peugeot

And let’s not forget the ever popular YUGO.

Not really up on different makes of American cars. We see a few Chryslers, Jeeps and Hummers. I can’t speak for why these or other US cars aren’t popular with other people, for me though, I don’t find them attractive vehicles. I don’t like the style and yes, they do have the reputation for being too big and petrol guzzlers. No idea if that is a factual reputation or not though.

@zenvelo I live in Ft. Lauderdale, But I lived in LA and worked in Beverly Hills for 2 years and still never saw a REnault, and the only Fiat’s I’ve seen have been restorations (very neat) but still rare.

Unions.

Unions do nothing to improve the product. They only add to the cost.

Why would anyone want to buy a product from a company who’s employees cannot be fired??

In a sense I have bought an American car. It doesn’t sit in my driveway, I’ve never taken it out for a spin. I’ve never even freaking seen it.

I’ve voted with my wallet many times by buying Honda or Acura products. Some were built in America, others built in Japan or the UK.

But the American Fed decided that I needed to buy into the traditional American car business anyway.

I was forced to do so in the form of my tax money being diverted to the US auto bailout.

@SecondHandStoke
Germany has unions, too. And they are more powerful as well. And there are workers’ councils in every sizeable company, that participate in company decisions.
No, the problem is that colonial car companies are run by accountants.
Meanwhile, the two Dragon Heads at VW, Winterkorn and Piëch, are both engineers.

^So they are responsible for the door trim on some poor soul’s Seat falling to the floor because money was diverted to the Veyron project?