Trump Told American Cars Need To Be Better If Germans Are Actually Going To Buy Them
Donald Trump isn’t even in the White House yet, but already he seems to be having a profound effect on the car industry. We’ve already seen Ford can its plans to build a new plant in Mexico following criticism from the President Elect, and he’s talked of slapping massive import taxes on cars built outside of the USA more than once.
His latest target is BMW, via an interview with The Times and Bild. While blasting German chancellor Angela Merkel for her handling of the refugee crisis, Trump also proposed the idea of a 35 per cent import tariff on German-built BMWs. The mere talk of such a tax dropped BMW’s shares by 0.85 per cent, Daimler’s by 1.54 per cent and VW’s by 1.07 per cent, The Guardian reports.
Trump also criticised what he called the “one-way street” of German cars in the US vs American cars in Germany. “If you go down Fifth Avenue everyone has a Mercedes Benz in front of his house, isn’t that the case? How many Chevrolets do you see in Germany? Not very many, maybe none at all,” he said.
This morning though, German deputy chancellor Sigmar Gabriel (above) hit back at Trump’s Merkel criticisms. Most amusing was what he had to say about that “one-way street”. When asked what Trump should do to get more Germans buying American cars, his answer was: “Build better cars”. If that doesn’t qualify as a mic drop, I’m not sure what does.
Responding to the tariff threats, Gabriel pointed out that BMW’s largest factory is actually in South Carolina. He added:
“The US car industry would have a bad awakening if all the supply parts that aren’t being built in the US were to suddenly come with a 35 per cent tariff. I believe it would make the US car industry weaker, worse and above all more expensive. I would wait and see what the Congress has to say about that, which is mostly full of people who want the opposite of Trump.”
Comments
If you think ford canned it’s plans to build in mexico because of trump then you’re absolutely clueless. And this is coming from someone who can’t stand the guy. They didn’t do it because there’s no reason to invest billions in a plant to build focuses when your research shows there isn’t enough demand to justify it.
Just sitting overhere like… “I just buy Swedish and Japanese cars…:
The americans produce some interesting cars, but they just refuse to sell them over here.
Thanks but I really don’t care…
He has his reason … How much does it cost to put an American car here? And how much does it cost to put an European car there?
To put an American car in Portugal we must pay in taxes 3x the value of the car lol … and who would not enjoy one of these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYc2RWBeyZM&t=189s
well I wanted to write sth about that topic, too. But would take me way to long….. But US cars are good for 2 reasons: A blurry V8, or a family Van. Both of these things are good, for all others they simply suck. Plastic shattering gaps between the panels cheap interior….and while the US companies have figured some of these things out, a S-class or the 7 series for example have dampers which make even the bumpiest road look smooth AF. So when you build cars from the past and try to sell them in the present, only works for some reasons in a small amount, because otherwise you can just buy just a Mercedes from last millennium and have the same technology. (the cool dampers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs9AlwpXz1o
I drive a Corvette even though I can afford a Porsche. The reason why Porsche is not on my list is because it is too expensive and the extra list can easily increase 50% of the cost. Meanwhile I modded my Vette and pass these things anyway. I like US cars because they are bang for buck.
percent not per cent
As a German the only thing i can say is , it’s true . I dont want to say that we make the best cars because thats not true but there very good against other brands from other Countrys.
The Ford Fiesta sells great in Europe, right?
Your comparing to different types of car manufacturers
Chevy and Ford don’t make high end luxury cars. But they are a step above some Asian manufacturer’s interior design (my option). Ford and Chevy don’t use as much plastic
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