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Originally Posted by cleanspeed1
My frustration has always been that the same domestic OEMs that have long standing European subsidiaries just will not bring the GOOD options that people would want for "emissions" reasons or whatever excuse that gets manufactured.
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Emissions / safety are bogus arguments.
Banning diesels for passenger vehicles while allowing it for light trucks is silly.
It's protectionism, plain and simple.
You might want our cars, but the reverse is far from true - most European people simply don't want a US gas-guzzler. Those who do form a niche market served mostly by grey imports - and almost invariably running on LPG which is a lot cheaper than gas. Most are light trucks or sportscars.
The regular imports that did score, were the likes of the Chrysler Voyager, Pontiac Transsport, when the MPV became more popular here.
Even then sales were hampered by their US engines. At least Chrysler introduced a diesel in the Voyager.
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Oh, and that pickup truck/SUV thing
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In Europe, pick-up trucks are very much a small niche market for private persons.
The EU-SUV sort of replaced the MPV, though they are still a lot smaller than US SUVs. You'll find them even with small 1.5L diesel engines .