Sure, been to Europe many times and have rented Opels on more than one occasion, Ford Focus, etc. They are awesome cars even at high speed on the M-routes. In fact my Saab 9-5 is a variant of the Opel Vectra platform and a great road car. But GM/Ford do not build these types of quality small cars here, for the reasons I discussed. It has nothing to do with the fact that we have more highways or like a lot of steel, otherwise Toyota and Honda wouldn't be doing so well here, and taking so much GM/Ford marketshare.

What is your take on why there seems to be fewer Toyotas and Hondas in Europe then in the US? It is tariff or nationalism or public opinion, or have I just not been observing them?

JG

You are correct and I presume it is d) all of the above, with an emphasis on pricing. I believe Toyota/Honda are significantly more expensive in Europe than here, and when compared with the home brands (VW, M-B, Volvo, etc) they offer little advantage. I have noticed that the premium European brands have less expensive models there that we do not see here - frequently with smaller displacement, cloth seating, etc. They only sell the loaded models here.

The poster that stated the Detroit-bred marketing ploy that small cars are for losers hit the nail on the head. I think the reality-corrected statement back at them would be most American made small cars are built as losers.

I have owned one american built small car in the last 10 years that I can think of - a 1995 Dodge Neon Highline. Honestly, this was the first small car designed and built in the US, by a US automaker that made any impact in this segment in history.

Shortly after the press releases went out about this new small car, Honda executives arranged to tour the assembly plants and witness this firsthand. Why, you might ask? Because it was inexpensive, due to the abundance of suitable parts Chrysler already had in place. It was easy to build, as it had been designed that way from the ground up - easy to repair too, unlike most anything from the big three. It had an abundance of interior room, thanks to a first-in-the-market cab forward design. And, it had a ton of standard features - also a first on a small car from within the US. They performed well, as Dodge managed to pull 135hp out of a 2.0 SOHC engine - and they had a winner.

The first generation Dodge/Plymouth Neon knocked the worldwide small car market on it's ear, and changed many model designs in other segments due to it's unique styling. When was the first time you had seen round headlights on a car in the years prior to 1995? And then afterwards? I can name many, many cars that this small car design affected - you could see the repercussions in almost every design after that.

I loved my Neon, and it loved me back - great gas mileage, and it cost me almost nothing in repairs and service in the 6 years I owned it. I even used it as a secondary service vehicle when gas first started climbing in price a few years ago. I hauled hundreds of pounds of tools and materials in that car daily, as my service truck could only manage 12 to 15 mpg.

Many people did look down on that car as a "Peon" and me as a cheapskate for driving it (there's that Detroit-bred ignorance again)- but I've known for years that when people lack something in themselves, they tend to overcompensate. I tend to exhibit the reverse of this, looking sideways at people driving alone in a Ford Excursion to the corner store.

What I've gotten tired of over the years, is the fact that Detroit DOES IN FACT have to be forced into doing almost anything related to fuel efficiency or clean-burning.

So let's force em already! I'm not buying the latest junk from the US, but I did try most of them before making that decision.

I rented both a 2 door and 4 door Chevy Cavalier only a few years ago - BOTH JUNK. These cars were like the Chevette v2.0 and I would've been embarassed to take that to market on any level.

And Ford? oh my - the 2008 Ford Escort is actually the 1999 design under new sheetmetal, with a sync stereo. It was an executive decision to NOT bring us the Euro spec Focus (a great car I have heard), and instead try again to sell us a 9 year old legacy model with a hideous new body. It didn't sell well then, and it won't sell better now. Who was the mental midget that decided to put MORE money into an aged and outdated car?!

The 1st gen Dodge Neon showed what can and will happen when the big three get off their butts, and break new ground. The industry takes notice, and they sell in the millions. Sadly, Chrysler followed this surge in momentum with a slew of car designs that only competed with each other. And I'm glad that Daimler & then Cerberus bailed Chrysler out this time, instead of relying on the US govt like back in the days.