# Why Aren't french Cars Sold In the USA? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 12, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-french-cars-sold-in-the-usa/348057 "2006-03-12T18:31:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-french-cars-sold-in-the-usa/348057/41 "2006-03-14T01:07:14Z")
Last car I rented in Europe was a Citroën C4, and before that was a Renault Mégane Hatch. Both were great cars. Certainly the lack of dealerships and service would be a problem in the US, but the cars are good enough to compete with any other car sold here. The Mégane with a turbo diesel would be really nice, comparable to a VW Golf. The C4 is probably closest to a Chevrolet Malibu Maxx. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-french-cars-sold-in-the-usa/348057/42 "2006-03-14T10:18:21Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Oh, and I really do lust after the variety of diesel passenger cars in Europe. I would have to agree, the best ones are the diesels, if only for the fact that the engines are usually more durable, and usually go much, much further before having something go horribly wrong. Not only go further before something goes wrong, but go further per gallon of fuel and get their faster too 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-french-cars-sold-in-the-usa/348057/43 "2006-03-14T10:21:47Z")
> [@Pushkin](#): > > get their faster too 😉 _ **"there"** _ :smack: ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-french-cars-sold-in-the-usa/348057/44 "2006-03-14T14:39:35Z")
I drive a Renault Clio - it is ultra-reliable and low on petrol. I’ve even taken it through some desert terrain. So, as I understand it, hatchbacks are just not driven in the US? Even in urban areas? What about MPVs? Renault and other Euro brands does those pretty well, too. Although the Chrysler MPV is quite nice too, but that could be the Daimler talking… ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-french-cars-sold-in-the-usa/348057/45 "2006-03-14T19:41:37Z")
**Moderator’s Note:** Driving thread from GD to IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-french-cars-sold-in-the-usa/348057/46 "2006-03-14T19:57:35Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I drive a Renault Clio - it is ultra-reliable and low on petrol. I’ve even taken it through some desert terrain. > > So, as I understand it, hatchbacks are just not driven in the US? Even in urban areas? What about MPVs? Renault and other Euro brands does those pretty well, too. Although the Chrysler MPV is quite nice too, but that could be the Daimler talking… There are lots of hatchbacks in the U.S. I drive one myself. I don’t know what an MPV is. Is it a mini-van? If so there are tons of those here. I don’t think the Daimler takeover has been too good for Chrysler, however. The problem for Renault is that it became synonymous with crap. If you wanted a low-priced car you were way better off getting a Geo Prizm. The Koreans have now taken over the basement of the car business. There is no room for Renault. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-french-cars-sold-in-the-usa/348057/47 "2006-03-14T20:51:09Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I drive a Renault Clio - it is ultra-reliable and low on petrol. I’ve even taken it through some desert terrain. > > So, as I understand it, hatchbacks are just not driven in the US? Even in urban areas? What about MPVs? Renault and other Euro brands does those pretty well, too. Although the Chrysler MPV is quite nice too, but that could be the Daimler talking… There are hatchbacks but they’re not anywhere near as common as in Europe. Often the US hatchbacks are bigger than the ones you see around Europe. The Toyota Yaris you see in Spain are all hatchbacks (I have one, my brother has one that he bought from me). In Latin America they sell both the hatchback and sedan versions. In the US they just don’t sell them. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-french-cars-sold-in-the-usa/348057/48 "2006-03-15T09:17:58Z")
> [@Captain Lance Murdoch](#): > > There are lots of hatchbacks in the U.S. I drive one myself. I don’t know what an MPV is. Is it a mini-van? Wikipedia seems to think so. > [@Captain Lance Murdoch](#): > > The problem for Renault is that it became synonymous with crap. If you wanted a low-priced car you were way better off getting a Geo Prizm. The Koreans have now taken over the basement of the car business. There is no room for Renault. Here, it’s a growing brand. Not the lowest of the low-priced either, but then I wan’t looking to drive an Opel or a Fiat, both of which were a lot tinnier than the Clio, without all the mod cons as standard (A/C, ABS, power steering and windows, airbags) ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-french-cars-sold-in-the-usa/348057/49 "2006-03-15T09:40:54Z")
I _very_ vaguely (so, I could be very wrong) remember that Renault strategy is currently geared mainly towards gaining market shares in emergent markets (eastern Europe, Asia, South-America, etc…) selling rather cheap vehicles. That would not make the American market a priority. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-french-cars-sold-in-the-usa/348057/50 "2006-03-15T14:08:34Z")
> [@Captain Lance Murdoch](#): > > Puegeot and Renault did sell cars in the U.S. They were just not successful. Renaults were total garbage. Peugeot was constantly under the gun from safety groups. In the end the cars simply didn’t sell well enough to justify the continuing effort to sell them. Lieutenant Columbo’s piece-of-crap car was a Peugeot. That should tell you something about the perceived quality of the car in the USA. I’m not saying that’s fair or accurate. I’m just saying that when a TV show uses your brand of car as a running joke, you have a serious image problem! ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-french-cars-sold-in-the-usa/348057/51 "2006-03-15T14:34:51Z")
How is it that Peugeot/Renault regularly have cars in the Paris-Dakar rally? If they were absolute crap, i would say that they wouldn’t be able to complete such a grueling course. Of course, the rally cars are probably modified? Again, i don’t see how french made cars could possibly be so bad-I mean, they do sell cars in Germany, Sweden, the UK, etc.-presumably they are able to compete in some parts of the market? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-french-cars-sold-in-the-usa/348057/52 "2006-03-15T16:10:58Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > How is it that Peugeot/Renault regularly have cars in the Paris-Dakar rally? If they were absolute crap, i would say that they wouldn’t be able to complete such a grueling course. Of course, the rally cars are probably modified? Again, i don’t see how french made cars could possibly be so bad-I mean, they do sell cars in Germany, Sweden, the UK, etc.-presumably they are able to compete in some parts of the market? Not only are rally cars highly modified but they’re also serviced by a team of expert technicians over their short lifespan; that’s not comperable in either endurance or daily driving of production autos. Audi was losing money hand over fist and getting a reputation for unreliability while the Audi GT Quattro team was cleaning up in WRC. As indicated above, it’s much easier for the European car makers to export within the European Union than it is to export to the US, owing to a lack of homologation of safety and emissions requirements. You’ll also note that most “American”-badged cars over there are also built in Europe; US exports of vehicles to Europe is virtually nil. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-french-cars-sold-in-the-usa/348057/53 "2006-03-15T17:23:07Z")
I have a book from the 60’s aimed at U.S. do-it-yourselfers wanting to work on their foreign cars. In one part it discusses the “national character” of cars from different countries. For example, for the British it said “To the British, everything is a sporting proposition and the removal of a starter motor is really a game to see who is more clever – you, trying to figure out how to get it off, or the designer who figured out how to get it on.” For the French, it said “The French? Ahh, the French. Who can _begin_ to understand the French?” For a parallel, bicycles traditionally had three threading standards: American/British, Metric (Asian and non-French European), and French. Compared to the rest of the world, French engineering tends to be different. From the typical American perspective, French cars have always been not just different, but weird. Renault tried three times to have a significant presence in the U.S. market. In the 50’s and 60’s, there were the Dauphine and R-8. These were interesting cars, but never caught on well. They faded away, but came back in the 70’s with the R-12, R-15, R-17, etc. These were unusual cars, but never caught on well. Finally, they bought AMC and sold the Le Car, and jointly engineered the Alliance and Encore. These were so-so cars, and never caught on well. Finally the lesson sunk in and Renault withdrew. French cars in the U.S. were plagued with poor availability of parts and competent service. They never overcame being weird and were always objects of curiosity more than they were “real” cars. Even having a pre-established dealer network through AMC didn’t help Renault get beyond this. There were never enough Americans who liked them and/or had good experience owning them to get sales up to a profitable level. Maybe the cars are better now, but so are competitors’ cars. The competition is tough and the market is not lacking for choices. French cars and their support systems (dealers, parts, etc.) are very likely just not up to the task of establishing a lasting presence in the U.S., and the French manufacturers probably know this. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-french-cars-sold-in-the-usa/348057/54 "2006-03-16T02:52:13Z")
> [@Pushkin](#): > > Isn’t US diesel too poisonous for the most part for European diesels to drink? The best hatches are usually diesel powered in Europe. My dad’s diesel powered German made '79 VW went over 750,000 miles on US diesel. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-french-cars-sold-in-the-usa/348057.md?page=2)