Forgive meif any of the followingsounds ignorant. It seems like there are alot of high end (i.e. expensive)european cars that never come to the United States. Why is this?Doesn't the US have the largest car market, and don't we also have more rich people who can afford such cars than any other market? I lived in england for about 5 years and if its any indication of what most of europe is like then I find it even stranger that things like the Audi S3 aren't brought over to the US. Europe tends to have better mass transit systems and smaller highways and as a result less (I would think) less need for high end automobiles. Not to mention the average european household income tends to be less than that of an american household income. So whats the answer?

 

Two big problems, Europeans generally don't make that many cars with mass appeal to American drivers, so while it might be snazzy to have Alfa 156s or S3s or Westfield XTRs here, it's probably not fiscally responsible for those companies since they wouldn't really be high volume cars. Second, American drivers are so irresponsible that the government sees a need to nanny down every car we can buy and limit the features and performance thinking that it will make us safer. As a result Euro and Asian cars require so many changes from their domestic variants to be brought here legallyand the cost of doing so is translated into higher purchase costs which will reduce the sales volume of those cars even more.

 

To add to the understanding of the nature of the problem:

Additionally, to get a particular car "federalized" is a humongously expensive prospect. Many of the most desirable marques don't have the capital to throw several million$$$ at a market that, while generally large, is pretty small when dealing with knowledge of European cars.

Part of the way it works is, if a manufacturer wants to sell a particular make/model here, in 'Mericuh, they have to crash-test EVERY POSSIBLE PERMUTATION (read: options combinations) to prove that a particular option, in combination with any/every other available option (performance, convenience, OR comfort) won't render the car a rolling death-trap. The crash tests are done from something like 20 different angles. To do that, effectively, requires hundreds of cars that a manufacturer must eat the cost of. This also has the undesirable side-effect of limiting the number of pure options available on these highly desired cars, which tends to somewhat diminsh their "gee-whiz" factor in the market place, too. Which limits the salability... Which limits the return on investment... Which limits the European manufacturers desire to bring those sweet, sweet cars to our market. It'd be different if our speed laws were more conducive to exploiiting the more desirable aspects of these cars, too, but, given the population-density of most built up areas (where the wealthy, who can afford such contrivences), is a wish that will NEVER be fulfilled.

Next week I'll explain why toast almost always falls butter-side down (hint: it's a conspiracy)

 

There definitely are a lot of European cars that do not make it to the US, that is correct. Sometimes, they introduce limited edition in order to avoid some of the homologation issues that was talked about by AWDaholic. Audi did it, VW is doing it.

One of the thing that you hinted on, is that they are different markets with different needs. But more importantly, the reason why some of the European models do no make it to the US is more strategic in nature. Why bring a 1 series (BMW) and dilute your Mini sales and 3 series sales? Why bring the 320 in order to make the 3 series cheaper if you can make it a little bit more exclusive??? Audi does the same; they did not bring the 1.6, 2.0, etc. Economics and homologation have to play a part, I agree, but it would also make the whole line less attractive.

One little side note, I will not directly comment on the affluence and abundance of the US, when it comes to cars, just remember that Hong Kong has more Rolls Royce per capita than anybody else in the world. What does it mean???? Nothing! One simple fact about wealth, sometimes it is not the best parameter to judge a way of life. IMO.

My last comment is to enjoy the differences! I also have to say that these Europeans manufacturer have to be doing something right since we are driving their cars!!!

 

Big issue is pretty much safety standards like awdaholic explained. The badass bucket seats in the Euro version of the R8 had to be replaced with something more supportive in the U.S. because the Euro seats couldn't pass side impact tests. Same thing with the Euro RS6 seats in the U.S.

Also it's a different market. There are a lot smaller cars in Europe and a lot of which are tiny diesel hatch backs. Why? Most streets are hard for a car to get around and gas costs an arm and a leg over there. Personally I'm glad I've never seen an A2 on the highway in the U.S.

 

Thanks for the answers.

 

No prob what-so-ever. Any other deep-thought questions you have you be sure and bring 'em here, first. Collectively, we know EVERYTHING!!!

Wanna know why that yellow-light will turn red nano-seconds before you enter the intersection, no matter when you decide to hit the accelerator? We can answer that!
Wanna know why the bird-shat always ends up on your just-washed car, even though you've parked at least a mile away from the nearest tree? We can answer that!
Wanna know how they get an entire satellite dish inside that tiny little shark-fin thingy? We can answer that!
Wanna know why women can somehow remember the sale prices of EVERY single item in EVERY single store in a 5-mile radius, but can't seem to remember to put gas in the car? OK, you're on your own with that one... There ARE limits to even what we can explain

 

what you should ask is why american designers cant design a decent looking car.

just take a look at the ford edge.......

 

Thats an outstanding question. You would think they would learn from companies like Audi and BMW and copy some of their styling. Its obvious they have ran out of ideas so they might as well. A good example is how Kia and Hyundai both have luxury cars that are very reminiscient of Jaguar styling but at half (or even a third) the price. Many people don't care too much about german engineering or fit and finish but want the outside of the car to look HAWT!

 

It's not just the cars themselves, it's also the accessories that come with them. Take the new Audi RS4, for example. The european version comes with the bucket seats and the flat-bottomed steering wheel, which alot of us here in the States have been drooling over. But since those items didn't pass the NHTSA tests, all RS4's sold in the US come with the round steering wheel, and Recaro seats. I'm sure if you start looking for differences between American and European versions of the same car, you'll find a lot of differences.