Lack of Asian cars in Italy/Europe

Status
Not open for further replies.
L

Lolvoguy

Joined
Feb 6, 2014
Messages
3,897
Location
Canada
Is it just me, or are there almost NO Asian/Korean cars in Europe vs N. America?

Recently on a trip to Italy I saw an older Hyundai Santa Fe. It had a funny little sticker on the back stating that it was an Asian car. I saw two of those actually, both on Hyundai vehicles.

I suppose it might be due to the large supply of brands we don't get here in N. America (Seat, Peugeot, Renault, Dacia etc.).

Side note, I also noticed many household items that would usually be made in China, were all made in Italy. Heck, even the bed sheets at one place we stayed had a tag indicating that it was made in Italy. I suppose this would strengthen the European economy as opposed to outsourcing everything to Asian countries. Not only would it keep many jobs in Europe, but keep the money in Europe too. Then again, I could be totally wrong.

Any insight from fellow bitogers?
 
27.gif
They're afraid of reliable/ low cost of ownership cars
27.gif
 
Depends on Location. In Ireland, Honda, Mazda, Nissan are all fairly popular. Less so, for Hyundai and Kia. In UK, I rented a Civic. Same models and popularity in Germany also, based on my relatively recent experiences. Of course, in Germany Opel is a fairly popular auto choice.
 
Automotive JINGOISM ?

If its not made here I'm not bu7ying it.

Especially if its a soulless, mediocre driving appliance.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Automotive JINGOISM ?

No the makeada hier, no takit!~


I see them possibly viewing Asian products as interlopers.

Dont' get me wrong I love my Suzuki bike it sounds like a fancy European bike, with the reliability of a Japanese. The perfect combo!

OTOH, I'd be willing to purchase a similar bike if I could find one made in the US.
 
EU countries have quite a large tariff for goods that are not produced inside the EU. Therefore you see less goods from China. Chinese aren't stupid though, they are starting to set up shop in EU countries with less expensive labor and import their goods there only to be re-packaged. They are then sold in EU with a proud sticker that it was made in EU.

Regarding cars, Japanese and Koreans are small players there. A huge part of Japanese success in NA were their small cars. The big 3 were simply not interested in the small car segment. In Europe, where the gas prices were always much higher than in NA, they have always had excellent small car segment, including offerings from Ford and GM (Opel). So the Japanese entered the market already filled with great little cars and they simply could not stand out.
On top of that, they were expensive to repair and service since the parts had to come in from Japan. It is different now as parts are made all over the world, but they are still struggling there.
 
You don't see many Japanese cars in Korea - mostly their brands of cars/trucks ...
 
You are right, Asian cars aren't popular in EU mainland. Honda have factory in UK so there situation might be different.

Generally in Europe people do not rate Asian cars as high as Americans and Canadians do. To be honest when I joined this forum I was astonished how high Toyotas fair in NA. Nobody gives second looks at them here. I'm guessing national pride of three big Euro countries, and much improved reliability of European cars with great dealer /service support have some to do with our love towards domestic cars. Euro cars drives better to.

In my household almost all is made in EU, even my brooms are made by Vileda of Italy.
 
Honda, in order to make inroads in the German market, was selling second generation Honda Preludes (probably their best handling car at the time) for less than dealers could buy them for here. There sprung up a grey market in Preludes in the Northeast where certified shops were importing cars from Germany at "retail", "Federalizig" them and underselling the local dealers.
It was one of the better grey market deals at the time.
 
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
EU countries have quite a large tariff for goods that are not produced inside the EU. Therefore you see less goods from China. Chinese aren't stupid though, they are starting to set up shop in EU countries with less expensive labor and import their goods there only to be re-packaged. They are then sold in EU with a proud sticker that it was made in EU.

Regarding cars, Japanese and Koreans are small players there. A huge part of Japanese success in NA were their small cars. The big 3 were simply not interested in the small car segment. In Europe, where the gas prices were always much higher than in NA, they have always had excellent small car segment, including offerings from Ford and GM (Opel). So the Japanese entered the market already filled with great little cars and they simply could not stand out.
On top of that, they were expensive to repair and service since the parts had to come in from Japan. It is different now as parts are made all over the world, but they are still struggling there.
Canada imported a good number of Ladas which were Fiat 124s "winterized" for the Soviet market. American gas station owners refused to sell gas to the owners who responded by installing Fiat badges to hide the origin of the vehicle.
 
I think the 1980's, US makers with some of the swilll produced got US buyer interested in foreign brands. Those Asian brands took full advantage and try to maintain a superiority in image but reality is gap is narrowed.

In Europe they had competitive models mostly coupled to protections.
 
Italy still has a Textile industry, the bed sheets are no surprise. Similarly, there is also a craft industry there. Nobody in the 'States is making teapots because nobody ever really did make teapots there ... it was always imported from the UK or China. Just a different way of doing things.
 
Asian cars have very expensive spare parts here. And that includes body parts. People know this.

The price of spares doesn't matter if nothing goes wrong, but even asian cars aren't full proof.

Oh and the tariff on goods from outside the EU is 10%.

A prioice example for "asian" spares: Particulate matter sensor in the exhaust of a euro 6 diesel Hyundai: 1000 euro. That's a wideband lambda in reality... Swirl valve actuator (in the intake manifold), 600 euro

A new engine for a H-1 van 15,000 euro by the time it's fitted. that's because complete engines aren't available and we have to order all parts seperately and assemble them. The not available complete engine would be around 4000 euro (not fitted)
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Loyalists.. Possibly the "R" word too..


Rational?
Rubbish?
Rigid?
Rigorous?
Regular?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Klutch9
An observation: lots of off-brand summer tires in Europe?
3 4 5
Replies
97
Views
4K
SwampSurvivor
S
Its official - 60% of households and 82% of singles can't afford a new car.
7 8 9
Replies
163
Views
6K
Kurtatron
KrisZ
How aggressive is the Start/Stop in your vehicle?
2 3
Replies
44
Views
3K
JohnnyJohnson
JHZR2
Foggy windows in the “old days” when most cars didn’t have AC.
2 3
Replies
40
Views
3K
Leo99
buster
Europe has fallen behind America and the gap is growing
11 12 13
Replies
257
Views
9K
CanAmAndMore
Back
Top