Why are American cars to different compared to European?
For example, Chevy Tahoe, Dodge Ram, Ford Explorer etc. Those kind of cars are only sold in N.America and not in Europe. Why?
US cars are so big, wide and heavy! But why are they like that? Why can't you never find these kind of cars in Europe?
Also, this American "stereotype", take a look at US police cars, or the NYC yellow cabs. They have that "American" style of cars which you would NEVER find in Europe
European roadways are based on vary old roads, which tend to be narrower than North American roads. From the early days, the US was thought to be w big, wide country so a lot of that thinking carried on to making things bigger and, thus, 'better'. It is not only cars and their roads. Think trains, houses, commercial buildings. The open country in the US led to making things larger. That has changed in the last ten to twenty years as a lot of thinking has turned to reducing pollution so some things are getting smaller and more efficient.
In Europe we have much higher fuel prices.
We have smaller road that have a lot more curves.
We have had taxation on the engine capacity of cars.
We like smaller lighter cars which have good handling and much better fuel consumption.
US cars are imported in small quantities usually as personal imports.
US cars have terrible handling and very basic mechanicals and build.
The dash usually looks like it cane from a scrap wheelie bin.
US manufacturers do not want to build RHD cars for the UK or get European type approval for small sales.
They are massive barges to drive and a nightmare to park.
Short version: $0.65/liter for fuel.
We're still, as Sean says, a "big, wide country," though there are places that are becoming cramped. And this bigness and wideness makes it difficult to provide more than nominal train service, a situation which the Trump administration aspires to make worse.
- Why would people buy older foreign cars instead of brand new American cars? I see it all the time, people driving 7-8 year old Mercedes or BMWs that they paid probably paid around $20,000. They could of easily gone out and bought a brand new Ford or Dodge, but they didn't. They bought a Mercedes with over 100k miles. All worn and torn on the inside. But aslong as they're shining on the outside I guess.
- Why do car companies sell in different countries under different names? Why are companies like Chevrolet selling their cars under names like Holden in Australia? I'm not sure if Chevrolet sells in Australia but I do think they do. If they already sell in Australia, what's the point of selling the same thing under Holden? Another example is some Ford cars are sold under Lincoln, and Chevrolet sells the same thing under GMC. Buick and Opel? What's with this?
- Why don't American cars last as long as Japanese cars? My family has owned a Ford Taurus and a Nissan Altima of similar model years. Both cars are still running, but the Taurus has very low mileage (it's a 1999 with only 85,000 miles) and the interior is in horrible condition and the plastics Ford put in have been known for breaking. None of this has happened with the Altima, even though it has more miles. Why?
- How is ford as compared to toyota/honda, in terms of reliability? I have always heard people saying that toyota (camry) and honda (accord) are really good cars in terms of reliability, less frequency of needing repairs and they can very easily cross 200,000 mile mark. But, does any one know how are Fords (fusion) when it comes to frequency of needing repairs and crossing 200k miles mark?