Details Top 10 European Americans Absolutely Love Cars
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European Cars Coming To America Small, Fun Cars towards us.
No, we're not talking about rather bland-looking European currency which, in recent years, replaced the French franc, the Italian lira and the German mark, etc. - many longstanding European travelers will tell you was much more interesting and the distinctive homogeneous euro but that's another conversation.
No, we're talking about models of European cars that Ford has been touting for the last two years, smaller, more fuel-efficient models that companies have been selling in Europe for several years - which are transported to the US market.
Ford Europe made nameplates already started arriving in America and continue to hit these shores over the next two years, but they aren t exactly the same vehicles that were automotive along roads in London, Paris, Berlin , Florence and Amsterdam.
Instead, they're redesigned, with the participation of both the US and European engineers, so the redrawn versions entering the US market will be the same as those who will go on sale in Europe The European invasion actually began in late 2009, when the Ford Transit Connect van made its debut and was quickly named the north American truck of the year at the auto show in Detroit in January.
Following the Connect will be the Ford Fiesta, which is scheduled for a summer launch Then comes the next generation Focus, scheduled for early 2011 deployment, which will be a new design of the European version of the development that has become a popular choice across the pond.
Further down the line, at the end of 2011, will be the new C-Max - the production model that was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in early March - and will be built on the same platform as the Focus redesigned the current European version of the C-Max will be on sale this summer in Europe, where it will be available in two incarnations - one with two rows and one with three lines is the three-line version is striking the United States and it is classified as a multi-activity vehicle that is something of a hybrid between a small SUV and a small van, although the shape is closer to that of a mini common denominator of these vehicles is their small size and more mileage high.
We firmly believe, and our research confirms, that the compact and sub-compact are the segments that continue to show the strongest growth, and become increasingly popular with buyers, said Mark Schirmer, Global Director of Communications Product Ford.
In 2004, these segments accounted for only 14 percent of the market, but in 2009 they represented 22 percent of vehicles sold, says Schirmer And this increase was not only driven by the high price of gas in 07 and 08 - because prices fell in November to 08 Currently, half of the cars sold worldwide are compact or subcompact.
Obviously, Ford is not the only US automaker to see this trend a big selling point of the Chrysler-Fiat alliance was the promise that it will bring small-sipping fuel European-style models to the US market the first of these will be the 2011 Fiat 500, which should arrive in the US in the late 10, said Chrysler He will probably come in four variants trapping standard three doors, the 500C convertible, a Giardinetta wagon and Abarth 500 d others will follow, Chrysler promises.
General Motors has also many small fuel-efficient vehicles, on the road now or down the pipeline, including the Chevrolet Cruze, Chevrolet Cobalt, Chevrolet Malibu and the vehicle plug-in Chevy Volt many of which employ engineering GM Opel owned, specializing in compact cars and fuel-efficient engines and even though GM has paid the Saturn and Pontiac nameplates, these two brands introduced several small cars sipping fuel in the last two years that are still on the road - and always strong.
But historically, GM has used a slightly different philosophy and structure that Ford's when it came to the design and sale of vehicles in different regions of the world GM operates under an engineering and manufacturing structure, so there are some GM vehicles we sell in the uS that are very similar to the vehicles we sell abroad, said GM spokesman Randal Fox - except they have different names.
The United States, but the same car was sold as the Opel Antara in Europe, for example, in the past, GM sold the Saturn VUE now abandoned.
And the Opel Insignia sold in Europe is sold as the Buick Regal in China, said Fox and the new Buick Regal that goes on sale in North America in May will be produced at the same plant as the Opel Insignia in Rüsselsheim, Germany.
So that leaves Ford as US automaker that matters most styles and Eurocentric philosophies in the most immediate, short-term fashion in the past, Ford was less of a global company - the different divisions tended to operate more at regional level, in part because of labor agreements, and the fact that the demand for different vehicles ranged from continent to continent, says Schirmer Since there is never a lot of huge demand in Europe SUV eg Certainly, after this great peak of 08 gas prices and 09, there was some uncertainty about the future fuel prices, and still - no one knows when and if they peak again, or how high and that uncertainty plays a role in people who want small fuel-efficient vehicles, to cover their paris.
Indeed, many economists have predicted that once the economic recovery - whenever that might be - in fuel prices spike again.
But the shift to smaller vehicles is also due to a general change in buying habits of the baby boomer generation has aged, Schirmer said in the 90's, the SUV sales boom was driven by baby boomers who have young children or teenagers, and needed more space vehicles, but lately, the boomers have seen their children grow up, leave the nest and move, they're downsizing as they age.
Part of the downsizing is also due to the Wall Street meltdown that decimated pensions and 401K plans and pensions - so many baby boomers don t have much money now that they thought that they would result, Fuel- efficiency is more attractive to them.
European cars to the roads required changes to US laws.
And with recent trends being what they were - and are - Ford looked to its European division, because the division had more experience, the construction of small fuel-efficient cars that the North American division - European gas prices mainly were much higher for much longer than they were in the U S.
Some changes had to be made to previous editions Euro of these models when they have been redesigned to be sold here in the US First, the Euro editions should be rethought in the United States to comply with crash-test standards, which are different than in Europe.
We also had to take into account the sustainability and road conditions - European roads tend to be less tortuous than the roads here in the U S Schirmer said that the wheels and tires and suspension should be amended to reflect that.
There are some American buyers who, when they hear small European car, think tiny teeny econo boxes, such as the Mini Cooper But Schirmer said that, historically, our Focus and Fiesta models in Europe were already significantly larger than most European cars in their compact and subcompact segments and driving and suspension parameters in models redesigned aren t that different from what they were in previous European editions.
And just because the buying trends of American drivers tend to move toward smaller vehicles, that doesn t mean Americans are willing to give up their comfort.
Many of the first orders for the new Fiesta and Focus include high-end equipment packages, notes Schirmer, including equipment such as leather seats, complete navigation systems and other things you expect to find in many larger car segments em are very upscale.
European cars coming to America, European, cars coming.