The Missed Export Market For American Cars

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Speaking of exports, a Canadian columnist of the Saint City News made out an eager market, lusting for American cars, right in front of our noses. The writer found “a market of 11 million people who love GM products and paste Chevrolet bowtie logos on decrepit Ladas and Skodas.” However, the American government has denied that market the American dream, “year after year for more than half a century.” You know which market we are talking about. No? It’s some 100 miles from Key West. Right: Cuba.

The embargo created a vacuum other nations are eager to fill:

“Here in Cuba, a country of 11 million souls, every one of whom appears to love Chevrolets, any new car you see nowadays is likely a Peugeot or a Geely. Meanwhile, the streets of this proud little island are a-hustle with vintage Chevys — not to mention Mercuries, Plymouths, Packards and Ramblers lovingly maintained with Bondo, duct tape and Russian knock-off parts.”

The author of the piece is David Climenhaga, a former journalist for the Toronto Globe and Mail and the Calgary Herald. He is now Communications Director of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, Alberta’s largest union. He says that doing away with the “cruel and stupid embargo” would be appreciated by the unions:

“Fully opening this market to American business would also help the Canadian industrial heartland. After all, GM’s most productive and reliable assembly plants are in Ontario. Some are mothballed, and thousands of workers have lost jobs, because of GM’s troubles.”

The thinking was, if we deny the Cubans cars and other products, they will take to the streets, chant “we want Escalades,” and topple their government. Instead, the embargo created a ready market for the French and the Chinese.

“But the embargo has also hurt Americans. Not so far away in Detroit, another crumbling city, the former Big Three automakers are still in business thanks only to bailouts by hard-pressed taxpayers.”

Says Dan Heller, who maintains one of the best on-line collections of American classic cars on Cuba: “Up until the revolution in 1960, Cuba was the largest importer of American cars, mostly the huge, gas-guzzling, multi-ton pile of metal that so many of us look back on today as a romantic relic of the past.” They would take new American cars in a heartbeat.

But, warns Climenhaga, “perhaps, though, they should be careful what they wish for. Someday they may find new Chevrolets and new friends aren’t as reliable as the old ones!

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

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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  • 50merc 50merc on Dec 27, 2010

    My guess is the only thing that keeps the embargo alive is Fidel's ability to fog a mirror, whereupon the US can declare "a new era has dawned". After all, even with the embargo the US is one of Cuba's most important source of imports. Any American who really wants to go to Cuba can do so in a cumbersome or roundabout way. Formally ending the embargo would probably be a non-event for almost all Americans if there was concurrent action to stop the free pass all escaping Cubans now get to remain in this country. Otherwise, there would be a huge flood of migrants, the vast majority going north to stay.

  • George B George B on Dec 27, 2010

    Getting back to cars, would an American style auto parts chain like AutoZone be able to find a market in a poor country like Cuba? Can't see Cubans buying lots of new cars, but maybe they would buy our used cars that can't pass emissions tests and fix them up using inexpensive local labor. Japan exports lots of used cars. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_used_vehicle_exporting

    • Roberto Esponja Roberto Esponja on Dec 27, 2010

      NAPA would probably fare better than Autozone. They seem to been more popular with car collectors here.

  • Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
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