Do any of you guys drive a European car that's not German?

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by Christian H

I was wondering today,
I know that BMW and Mercedes are very popular in the States, but what about French and Italian manufacturers?
Are Citroen,Peugeot,Renault or Fiat taken seriously over in the USA or are they viewed as slightly eccentric oddities?
When I have seen a French car in American films etc they seem to be a figure of redicule.
What do you guys think!

Citroen, Peugeot, Renault, Alpha Romeo and Fiat all abandoned our market in the 80s. The Swedes, English and the Germans are the only Europeans selling non-exotic cars in the US. Jag hasn't been down on the lower end of the marked for a few years, since the X-type went away. Every once in a while we get a rebadged Opel or Euro-designed Ford. There are strong plans to bring Fiats back now that they own Chrysler. I'm looking forward to seeing the newer Fiats on the roads here, they're cool looking.

[TRawls]

My wife's car is Indian: Jaguar.


TRawls

[Gary H]

Technically owned by Tata, but if there was any Indian involvement in the design it'd have seating for 14 with gold-plated tissue boxes on the rear shelf.

[landrovered]

Originally Posted by Gary H

Technically owned by Tata, but if there was any Indian involvement in the design it'd have seating for 14 with gold-plated tissue boxes on the rear shelf.

I drive land Rovers (I have three) and actually I think the Tata acquisition probably saved the marque from the Ford overlords who did very little for the brand long term.

Ford:

1. Raided the technology of LR and spread it to its other brands (like HDC to Volvo)
2. Put LR signature styling on Ford pickup trucks and Edge to name a few
3. Watered down the models by compressing the roll out cycle, buyers could not keep them straight, is it a sport or a range rover or LR3?
4. Closed down the Rover V8 engine line and comingled supply lines (Jag engines in LR)
5. Abandoned the traditional customer for upscale customers only

If LR had not been sold when it was then I fear it would have been killed just like GM did with many of its brands.

Porsche was very lucky to become part of VW, at least they are staying true to the things that made the brand worth buying.