Why Did American Cars Fail in Europe?

Let's have a look at why American cars never caught on in Europe.

#americancars
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[atlantisfromtheinternet]

GM’s major issue was the fact that they were trying to compete in market sectors with Chevy that they already had covered with Vauxhall, seeing some often these on the roads in the UK is honestly really trippy

[spavatch]

The reason Lancia Ypsilon and Delta were sold as Chryslers in the UK is that they didn’t want to put effort into wiping that stupid and largely undeserved tag saying ‘corrodes after a light shower’ off the Lancia brand.

[greggc.touftree]

GM failed because of GM being GM. Chrysler failed because they have always failed, even in the US.

[sunsetrider]

Here are the main reasons:
- Bad fuel economy. US manufacturers never had a single vehicle
- Poor engine performance for the weight of the vehicle
- Poor suspension performance
- Poor braking performance
- Styling
- Reliability. There is a reason why Japanese cars took over the market once they realized that they can distant themselves from the US manufacturers by just making more reliable cars.
- Too large. Europeans have narrower streets and have places where you'll be parking on the sidewalk. You can't get over the curb with a 2 1/2 ton vehicle easily. You need nimble cars to travel with ease in Europe.

Ford did better in Europe with their separate entity, but they have always been known to be less reliable than anyone else. You can have 350, 000 kilometers in a Citroen or Peugeot, but not in a Ford. Ford also had real issues in the 80's with parts availability.

[shootingsportstransparency]

There's a reason Ford CEO Jim Farley doesn't drive a American Ford but a Chinese Xiaomi. He understand quality

[hadtopicausername]

I rented a Chevrolet Kalos once from Rent-A-Wreck. The 5th gear ratio was perfect for having the engine be unhappy on the slightest of inclines when doing the national speed limit here. The steering gave absolutely no meaningful feedback about what the front wheels were actually doing. The brake pedal felt like a sponge, and the gear stick was like stirring porridge. You'd just move the stick where you knew a gear ought to reside, release the clutch, and hope for the best, as there was zero physical indication through the stick that you'd actually engaged a gear. On the positive side, the car did get me from A to B and back to A again.

[MaximilianvonPinneberg]

Too big, too thirsty, unreliable, poorly made, interiors like a chocolate tray in quality, poor dynamics, out-handled by its European competition and the small ones were badge engineered Italian (in UK) or Korean product. Plus GM already had Opel that were far superior and Chryslers were based on old Mercedes. In all, out of date and out of step with the needs of the European consumer.

[josephbettano]

GM also tried selling the Oldsmobile Alero badged as a Chevrolet in Europe. Also the Chrysler Stratus and Neon were both Dodges badged as Chryslers in Europe. The first and second generation Dodge Viper was even sold in Europe badged as a Chrysler. DaimlerChrysler also brought Dodge to Europe in 2006, but turned out to be short-lived due to low sales, the recession, and Fiat's buyout of Chrysler. Ford even tried selling some of its North American lineup in the Old World. Ford tried selling the 1995-2001 Ford Explorer in Europe with low sales. They sold the first generation Ford Escape there as the Maverick also with low sales, so the vehicle was axed after 4 years. Ford would also attempt to sell the 1998 Mercury Cougar as a Ford in Europe also with low sales and axed the model after 2 years. They also sold the Ford Windstar in Europe from 1995-2002 then sold the successor Freestar only in the Netherlands after that.

[sam]

Simple, products are not adapted for EU.

Also for Europeans, US cars have the bad image of being gas guzzlers.

[KevinMST]

In romania back then if you have a Chevrolet Aveo most of the people says that this car's is a car of a entire life of how good it was back then

[bigdudeohyeah]

Could be worse, Holden (thanks to a managing director flown in from Detroit) replaced their Opel-sourced products with the Daewoos. Sure, the Opels were unreliable, but at least they were fun to drive. Daewoo couldn't get either aspect right. It was one of the major reasons why they eventually shut up shop.

[Jona-xltw]

And we also already had great and well established car brands for pretty much every price range

[AuroraBeyond]

This is always such an interesting topic to talk about. Chevrolet didn't entirely fail in the UK mind you, the Aveo, Matiz and Captiva are still aplenty.

[DimeDimovski]

I can confirm as a Macedonian that Chevys did sell well here, and that we also used Chrysler Stratus' as police vehicles. Chevys Sparks currently are our regular patrol vehicles in the police, while all the Stratus' were scrapped because they broke down more than they served. There's one that was bought by someone from the police and its sitting abandoned with a flat tire and cobwebs inside. Genuine turds of cars, main reason you don't seem them on the road anymore

[neil]

To say that none of the Chevrolet products were designed / developed specifically for Europe is not true. The Kalos was originally planned for Europe only, under the Daewoo project code S100, with assembly initially planned for the ZAZ plant in Ukraine, effectively replacing the ZAZ Tavrija with a modern 5dr hatchback that could sell in Western Europe as well as the CIS countries that the Tavrija was selling in. The project was later expanded to include the 4dr sedan, and at that point North America and Korea were added to the plan, Korean production added, and the project was recoded to T200 to reflect its intention to replace the Lanos in Korea. The European focus was so strong, the vehicle was package protected for Renault's then-unreleased K9k 1.5 turbodiesel engine.

[courtneypuzzo]

well if your talking about compact and midsize American cars they are bigger and heavier than their European equivalents take a 1974 Opel GT 162 in and a 1974 Oldsmobile 88 the former is a compact car 162 in long or 13.5 ft while the later is a full size car 227 in or 18.92 ft long and also the Opel is roughly 1/2 the weight of the Oldsmobile the Olds weighing 4, 510 pounds and the Opel weighing 2, 200 LBs similar to a Toyota Celica MK1

[imnoobbronze]

GM really fumbled with Opel, as it was a proven brand who could turn a lot of profit. their cars are good.
also Cadillac here in Europe was a disaster because they didn't even sell good models of it. not only did they need to prove themselves against the Germans, but they didn't try to do it at all, how stupid...

[lhelma]

Ford was bestseller back in 2000s here in Central Europe - outselling every Asian and American brand!

They got it right, understanded what customer actually wants

[Roguescienceguy]

Because they are totally not adapted to our roads, standards and regulations. Ford does well over here, though that is well and truly Ford Europe which is a completely different brand basically

[Dreyno]

I disagree about Ford. Ford are an international brand that happens to have originated in the U.S. Their first overseas factory opened in Ireland in 1917. Within a decade they had factories all over the world. That means that since the very advent of motoring, Ford has had a presence around the world. Most people in Europe do not see them in the same light as Chrysler, Chevrolet, Cadillac etc. They have been part of European motoring since the very beginning, long before Ford Europe was formed.
Also, the Renault Espace showed Europe minivans aren’t boring long before Ford got in on the act.