Car industry US cars simply unsaleable in the EU, according to experts
US President Donald Trump wants to use new tariffs to force the EU to open up to US car brands. But experts disagree: It is not trade barriers or tariffs that are to blame for the poor performance of US carmakers in Europe, but their models.
04.04.2025, 04:56
SDA
"The big problem for US manufacturers is that they simply don't meet the tastes of European consumers," says industry expert Stefan Bratzel from the Center of Automotive Management in Bergisch Gladbach. "They don't really have anything to offer that could win us a larger market share."
The only exception is Tesla, adds Bratzel. "But Tesla has other problems now." In the first quarter, the e-car manufacturer's sales plummeted by 13 percent. This may also be due to growing criticism of Tesla boss and Trump adviser Elon Musk.
Trump accuses EU of unfair competition
Trump justified the additional tariffs of 25 percent on imported cars, which came into force on Thursday, by saying that Europe was closing itself off too much. "One of the reasons I'm imposing tariffs is because we're taking millions of their cars - BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz," said the 78-year-old. At the same time, it is "almost impossible" to export US cars to the EU.
The figures initially seem to prove Trump right: While almost 450,000 cars went from Germany to the USA last year, only 136,000 went in the opposite direction, reports the industry association VDA.
And while the USA previously - before the introduction of the 25 percent surcharge - only levied a 2.5 percent tariff on cars from Europe, the EU rate for US vehicles is 10 percent.
US cars too big for Europe
But that is not the reason for the imbalance, says industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer. "The cars from America are simply unsaleable here." They are too big for Europe and their fuel consumption is far too high given the fuel prices here. "You can't sell a car here with eight cylinders and 15 liters of fuel consumption." In the USA, this is not a problem given the gasoline prices there, but it is in Europe.
The best-selling US model for years, the Ford F-150 pick-up truck, is therefore not even officially offered in Europe, nor is the competitor model from the Stellantis brand Ram. Competitive small and compact cars, on the other hand, are not even offered by US manufacturers.
"If you want to sell cars here, you need models that customers want," says Dudenhöffer. However, the US manufacturers have not yet succeeded in doing this. According to Dudenhöffer, even tariffs cannot change this.
