Why do Europeans not buy American cars?

The question of why Europeans do not buy American cars is as old as the industry itself.

For decades, this question has lingered over why Europeans never warmed to American exports.

It turns out that there are quite a few reasons for this attitude and mindset.

And some of them might actually change your mind.

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Straight off the bat, it is important to note that quite a lot has changed in recent years.

To its credit, the American car industry has made leaps and bounds in its offerings.

Newer cars, such as the eighth-generation Chevrolet Corvette, have been receiving rave reviews.

In fact, many in Europe now consider the Corvette a worthy challenger to Europe’s finest sports cars.

As impressive as the evolution is, there are still massive practical hurdles to owning an American car in Europe.

And this guide will hopefully go some way in showing you why this is the case.

The first (and perhaps biggest) reason for Europeans’ reluctance to purchase American cars is simple.

It all comes down to incredibly stringent European emissions regulations.

Unlike in America, most of Europe is subject to extremely stringent emissions rules.

Every year, European brands find themselves forced to innovate in the realm of emissions.

You can probably see where the problem arises compared to American cars and their power units.

As insane as a HEMI engine sounds, it simply wouldn’t work in Europe.

The second reason for the non-willingness to buy American feeds directly into the first.

American cars tend to have much, much larger engines than their European counterparts.

And this makes them much more expensive to fuel and run on a daily basis.

Regular gasoline, on average, costs somewhere around $3.40 per gallon in the U.S.

By contrast, petrol costs roughly £1.40 per liter in the UK (or 1.60 per Euro in Europe).

Once it is all counted up, this amounts to fuel being about twice as expensive in the US of A.

Therefore, owning a Dodge Challenger or a Ford Mustang is often too expensive.

A third reason for the unwillingness to purchase American cars comes from historical biases.

Historically, American cars haven’t quite been built to the same standard as European cars.

Vehicles, such as the Dodge Viper, have always come with beastly engines and performance.

However, they have often been seen as quite cheap and plasticky when it comes to the interior.

These cars have also not often been built to the same standard as their European counterparts.

In fairness, though, this perception is gradually starting to change – especially with cars such as the Corvette.

It will take a lot of time, but it does appear that, at least, the perception might be starting to shift.

The wider question of whether American cars will ever be viable in Europe is a different one entirely.