Re:Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks
by aembleton on Friday April 21, 2023 @06:43AM
(#35651939)
I often see Fords and Teslas
Re:Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks
by sofixa on Friday April 21, 2023 @08:13AM
(#35652562)
Ah true, forgot about Ford, they're rare but present; also built in the EU though, even if Ford are a one-brand company (after the sale of Volvo/Jaguar/Land Rover). In Bulgaria there's a joke along the lines of "Do you know why Fords have such wide windshield/windscreens? So that everyone can see the idiots that bought them.", but I'm not actually aware of them having a bad reputation (unlike say old Opels that are known as very rust prone).
Teslas are a new phenomenon and indeed getting more and more prominent in some niches, but it seems it's mostly taxis and uber drivers, at least in France. I suppose the theatrics of Tesla's prominent CEO will significantly hamper their expansion, and pretty much most car manufacturers have caught up. Around where I live I see more Renault Zoe and VW ID.3s than Teslas for personal use.
Re:Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks
by arprocter on Friday April 21, 2023 @09:57AM
(#35653832)
Funny you mention Jeep - in the early aughts the same manufacturer who made the M-Class in Europe also made Grand Cherokees (Magna Steyr)
Apparently they also made PT Cruisers for a brief period - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Steyr#Production
The only American brands I see in Europe are either old Chevrolets (manufactured in Germany by Opel when they were part of GM) or Jeep/Dodge/RAM trucks and similar which are owned by Stellantis (the merger of PSA (Peugeot, Citroen) and FCA (Fiat, Chrysler)) and manufactured in Italy. So they aren't know for their poor quality because they're made in the EU, in the same factories that make other known models, on the same bases (e.g. an Opel Ampera and a Chevrolet Volt are the same car, from the same factory, different badge, slightly different interior, slightly different exterior), but they are known as shit inefficient cars that mostly assholes buy.
The only American American cars (not built in the EU with an American badge slapped on the front, but produced in Mexico) that I can think of that I have seen in Europe are Chrysler PT Cruisers which are universally known as shit.