America Is A Walled-Up Car Market, Europeans Say
Some folks still desperately stick to the fairy tale that the Japanese car market is closed. The same people became excited when European carmakers complained about different Japanese technical regulations – something that was sold as “proof” for Japan walling up its market against foreign imports. The same people claim the U.S. market is open wider than the happy hooker. Not if you ask European carmakers again. Said the European carmaker association ACEA:
“Current US auto non-tariff barriers (NTBs) are equivalent to an ad valorem tariff of about 26%. The elimination of tariffs and just a quarter of existing NTBs would increase EU vehicle and parts exports to the US by 149% for the period 2017-2027.”
The ACEA made this comment after the EU formally agreed to negotiate a trade pact with the U.S.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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I believed this stuff but Onus makes great points up there, what is it really that makes it hard to meet FMVSS and ECE with the same car becuase the signal lights can't be it. Not when Audi, BMW etc go out of their way to make US models with red-only rear lamps when they could easily use the same amber/red units the world over...
Maybe if a European car company could make something with half decent reliability, there would be more demand to want there vehicles. Without BMW and further back MB, any longer being the vehicles they once were, what reason is there to buy a European car outside of novelty or attention? Can't say I've ever seen a VW make it 100k miles without major repairs or un-normal wear items. Same cant be said about Japanese and to a slightly lesser extent American automobiles.
Well to my American friends who are blind. I do agree with the impact that technical trade barriers have on your vehicle market. You American's also miss out on many exciting vehicles. I do know the Australian vehicle market is one of the most open in the world. Just google and look at what is available here, not counting any grey import we want. We basically have and can drive any vehicle available globally, something you Americans can only dream about. 1. Just because a vehicle has a foreign badge on the bonnet (hood) doesn't mean it's an import. Imports are what the word states, an import from another country. This would also mean outside of NAFTA. 2. The US has one of the worst fatality rates among OECD economies. If anyone challenges me and tries to produce data it I will give you a good link. Even the Canadians are quite high. To the bloggers who stated US vehicles are safer, here is a statement. Then your driver training must be none existent. Your high fatality rate is a combination of infrastructure, training and design issues. It can be resolved, we did it over the past 30 years. 3. There are significant difference in design standards in comparing FMVSS to UNECE standards. There also is a cost impost that will drive up the price of your vehicles. The US has moved marginally closer towards some UNECE standards. 4. The UNECE is global, not just Euro. Most countries who are non signatories use UNECE standards. 5. To the numpty who thinks Euro cars are taxed on weight and horsepower, WTF? Even if that occurred all vehicles would be uniformly regulated and taxed, not just barriers placed on imports. Remember the globe outside of the US isn't one country. It consists of many countries. This is the reason for UNECE regulations, to facilitate global trade. Not like in the US's case to assist in creating an insular market. 6. The Big 3 now are again behind the 8 ball. I would suspect Fiat/Chrysler and Ford will support the removal of technical barriers to reduce the cost per unit of vehicle design. The UAW doesn't support any changes towards UNECE regulations. 7. I would also imagine the Chinese will eventually align to the UNECE standard as well. Why? What markets do they currently export to? And, do you think they will align themselves to the US? 7. The world vehicle market (UNECE) is much, much larger than the US market, it's about time some of this American Exceptionalism is removed, or you'll end up like the French, arrogant. We are the best and only have the best attitude will not serve you well. It might make you feel better but sooner or later you'll pull your head out of you ass and see the world, every other country has positives as well. Possibly in some ways better than the US, maybe not as big. 8. I do expect UAW and Fox and Friend types to try and reduce my comments to nonsense. Go ahead, this area of the global market is like a hobby to me.
I just want a Fiat Panda turbodiesel. Maybe a B7 Passat TDI wagon too. They can keep the rest