Having lived 19 years in the Dominican Republic and frequently travelling to Spain on vacations, I’ve always wondered why French cars, like Peugot and Citroen, are not sold in the U.S. My friend in the D.R has a Peugot 307, and it is an absolutley wonderful car. It has great handling, a nice, sporty exterior, a good engine, and is quite technologicaly advanced. In other words, a 307 is a car that could easily compete, and maybe even “beat” competitive american cars in the states.
So, does anyone know why French cars are not sold in the U.S?
Blame the fine autos France dumped on us in the 60s and 70s, such as the Renault 10. Once burned, twice shy, but what about if you are repeatedly burnt?
French engineering is…different. French cars have always been considered weird in the U.S. (0.1 percent of Americans like them, 0.9 percent don’t care about them, and 99 percent dislike them.) When they have been sold here, the dealer network has been spotty at best, and parts and service availability has been poor (or worse). Renault went so far as to buy Amerian Motors and co-design a couple of models with them. Even with that, the cars were weird, 99% of Americans didn’t like them, and parts and service availability was poor.
That was Renault’s third foray into the U.S. market. They got the message. Peugeot, whose cars were just as weird but had more cachet, left a few years later because they couldn’t sell enough of them, even after years of hanging on to the edge of the market by their fingernails. Citroen, whose cars were mindboggling weirder, had gotten out decades earlier. The French just don’t make cars that are suitable for American conditions, nor that appeal to American sensibilities.
I just want it known that I include myself in the 0.1% of Americans who like French cars. My very first car, which I bought for $2000 at the age of 18, was a 1983 Peugeot 505S (very similar to this). It had a SUNROOF. Who the hell gets a sunroof with their first car? I loved that car right up until the day I abandoned it because I’d abused it to the point that the reverse gear was the only one that worked. (I was a stupid kid and knew nothing of vehicle maintenance.) But I loved, loved, loved that car and would gladly own one again if I had the opportunity.
Citroen developed hydraulic suspension, you could press a switch and the car would rise up on stilts.
Renault 4 (I learnt to drive on one) had a ‘slap stick’ gear handle sticking out of the dashboard - later they moved it to a more conventional position.
Renault ?, known as the ‘Banana Car’, front and rear wheels were not in line.
It worked - but it was strange.
I used to have a Citroen BX. Lovely car. And I loved the hydraulic adjustable suspension - though it is admittedly a bit weird - but I could make the car jump up and down at traffic lights, decades before rappers cottoned on to the trick. I rented a Renault Laguna recently, and that was gorgeous too.
But some the old French cars really were weird. The Renault 4 and the Citroen 2CV. Gearstick in the dashboard? What?
French cars are much more conventional these days, though. Peugoet, Citroen and Renault models are very much on a par with Ford and GM’s European models. You might as well ask why Ford and GM don’t sell their Euro designs in the US (with the odd exception like the Mk. I Focus). I suppose it’s because the two markets’ requirements are different. Preferences in styling, handling, body type and size, engine type and size all differ.
This article touches upon how American tastes don’t necessarily allow for out-of-market vehicles to become sales successes here.
I always like to reflect on my year of driving a Mondeo in Mexico (not available in the USA; very good seller in Europe). It sucked. It had a wimpy little V6 that acted like a small I4. It was tiny and cramped. Handling was “too European” for me (well, would’ve been “fun” with a quick engine). Every bump was a spine-tingler (not the good kind). It got excellent gas mileage, though. Yet all of the reviews for the identical car in the UK proclaimed that it was a spacious family traveller; good performance; no wonder it’s a great seller; only downside was its meager 24 miles/UKGallon fuel efficiency!
A high school friend of mine had a beat-up grey VW squareback around the time they tried to resurrect the Le Car name in the '80s (and yes, it was just a rebadged Renault 5). He got some black paint and Gothic-style stencils, and christened his car - what else? - “Das Auto”.
Heh, a Mondeo is considered a “large” car here. I drive a Focus hatchback, which is considered a “medium”. Out of interest, what size V6 did it have? I have driven a 1.6L V6 Mondeo, which has the same engine as my Focus, and it was very sluggish. Apparently the 2L is better, but if you add A/C into that (since most Euro cars don’t have A/C) I can imagine that its performance would suck ass. That said, the few large American cars I’ve driven, with stonking great 5L engines, may have roared like wounded beasts but still didn’t have that much pickup compared to our dinky Euro cars.
I have had several French cars - all Renaults and Citroën’s and I have a serious Citroën bias - I loved the quirkiness and the hydraulic suspension. They were rumoured to be difficult to work on and a lot of mechanics wouldn’t touch them - I ended up doing my own repairs and found them to be far easier and more logical to work on than the supposedly “user-friendly” Fords.
The reason Citroën pulled out of the American market was ascribed to the American regulation that all bumpers had to be at a specific height above road level.
While in one respect this was not a problem, indeed they could comply far better than any other vehicle inasmuch as they always ride level and at the preset height, regardless of loading or load distribution, the ability to manually adjust the ride height contravened the regulation.
I’m currently driving a Honda and have no complaints about it but it will be replaced with another Citroen within a very near future, even though Pugeot, who direct the Pugeot-Renault-Citroën conglomerate, have put the kybosh on all of Citroën’s wilder devitions.
My family had a Peugot station wagon in the early 1970s. The one weird thing I remember about it was that you locked the doors by pulling a knob up, rather than pushing a knob down like in every single other car I’ve ever been in.
French cars were quite common in this country during the '70s. In recent years a friend of mine bought a '67 Citroen that is a thing of beauty… don’t know how it runs though.
