I remember this same whole “Wahhh! You don’t buy our cars!” palaver playing out with the US and Japan back when that cunt was first expressing his love of tariffs. (Late 80s/early 90s)
Sure, Japan had some trade barriers. But Japanese automakers absolutely worked their arses off with market research, design etc in order to succeed at selling in the US market. US automakers couldn’t even be arsed to install coin holders that fit Japanese coins, let alone put the steering wheel on the right side of the car.
And even if US automakers nowadays showed even a modicum of nous for foreign markets, practically their entire production line has been geared to churning out ever more monstrous pickups and 4x4s, thanks almost entirely to their fucked up tax rules on vehicles.
The thing is, that twat in the White House doesn’t care about cars sold in Europe by US companies, only cars exported to Europe from the US.
And IIRC Ford has completely ended the production of saloons and hatchbacks in the US to focus solely on US-tax-break-covered “light trucks”: 4x4s, crossovers, pickups, vans etc.
AFAICT there is only one Ford-badged saloon left in production anywhere in the world (the Mondeo/Taurus, with no successor planned), made by a joint venture in China and sold in the Middle East. And the last estate (Focus) is expected to be discontinued this year.
Leaving only oversized energy-guzzlers (even the full EV 4x4s have a bigger carbon footprint than a compact ICE hatchback) unlikely to win a huge swathe of the European market even before he alienated every non-fascist on the continent.
You make a fair point, my comment was more to say that US brands can make a good sensible car if they want to and be damn successful at it. I’ll be a little sad when they discontinue the focus. Have they stopped Mondeo estates as well?
I guess the Puma/Capri combo are a more euro-centric SUV.
Yeah makes sense, Focus definitely ends production at the end of the year. Always been a fan of Fords in general, decent quality, decent price, just all round decent cars.
I remember this same whole “Wahhh! You don’t buy our cars!” palaver playing out with the US and Japan back when that cunt was first expressing his love of tariffs. (Late 80s/early 90s)
Sure, Japan had some trade barriers. But Japanese automakers absolutely worked their arses off with market research, design etc in order to succeed at selling in the US market. US automakers couldn’t even be arsed to install coin holders that fit Japanese coins, let alone put the steering wheel on the right side of the car.
And even if US automakers nowadays showed even a modicum of nous for foreign markets, practically their entire production line has been geared to churning out ever more monstrous pickups and 4x4s, thanks almost entirely to their fucked up tax rules on vehicles.
The funny thing is, the one American automaker that made an effort did quite well and we sometimes forget they’re American, namely, Ford.
The thing is, that twat in the White House doesn’t care about cars sold in Europe by US companies, only cars exported to Europe from the US.
And IIRC Ford has completely ended the production of saloons and hatchbacks in the US to focus solely on US-tax-break-covered “light trucks”: 4x4s, crossovers, pickups, vans etc.
AFAICT there is only one Ford-badged saloon left in production anywhere in the world (the Mondeo/Taurus, with no successor planned), made by a joint venture in China and sold in the Middle East. And the last estate (Focus) is expected to be discontinued this year.
Leaving only oversized energy-guzzlers (even the full EV 4x4s have a bigger carbon footprint than a compact ICE hatchback) unlikely to win a huge swathe of the European market even before he alienated every non-fascist on the continent.
You make a fair point, my comment was more to say that US brands can make a good sensible car if they want to and be damn successful at it. I’ll be a little sad when they discontinue the focus. Have they stopped Mondeo estates as well?
I guess the Puma/Capri combo are a more euro-centric SUV.
I think one of the articles I looked at said the Focus estate is their last estate and is expected to end production this year or the next.
Yeah makes sense, Focus definitely ends production at the end of the year. Always been a fan of Fords in general, decent quality, decent price, just all round decent cars.