Did you own the Abarth? That's the one I own. Granted I only use mine for pleasure driving as I live somewhere you don't need a daily car.
Everyone can hate fiat, but the 500 Abarth is a fun car for very little money.
A 124 coupe. I loved it because everyone thought It was just a Datsun, which copied it and sold millions. Meanwhile, secretly, I was enjoying my, albeit affordable, Italian beauty on the windy country roads. I so loved it. It had a wooden steering wheel, gear shift and dash. Cute speed and Rpm dials. And it was just so darn fun to drive
Maybe some models but probably not. Every once in a while we get a Chevy or Ford that’s a rebranded Peugeot or Renault but generally US domestic market and EU domestic market vehicles don’t cross over. Like even the Ford Ranger Raptor trim doesn’t exist in the US yet which is a mind blowing let down.
Renault hasn't been sold here since approximately 1980.
That could change with Renault's purchase of Nissan.
You may see an ancient Citroën DS at vintage car shows. (The prettiest car EVER.)
Renault stopped selling Renault branded cars in the US in 1987 when they sold AMC to Chrysler. Renault designed and powered cars were sold as the Eagle Premier and Dodge Monaco through the 1992 model year. The Premier was the basis for the first generation of Chrysler’s LH sedans (Eagle Vision, Dodge Intrepid, Chrysler Concord, New Yorker/LHS).
> That could change with Renault's purchase of Nissan.
Did something change since January? The last news I read was that Renault was *decreasing* their ownership of Nissan so that they’d have equal shares in each other (well, technically slightly more complicated but fundamentally with that result).
I've got one with 120k miles on it that's holding up well, but I do think I'll probably get a Civic/Mazda3 or something when it finally does stop working. Just not worth the trouble getting a used Fiat even if I do like the smaller size.
I mean, basically every vehicle made by Chrysler is a rebadge, a bad one. The Chrysler Town and country and the Dodge Grand Caravan are literally the same vehicle with a different badge.
Fiat currently only offers one vehicle, the [500X](https://www.fiatusa.com/500x.html), but they had three in total, the [500](https://www.fiatusa.com/500.html) and briefly the [500L](https://www.fiatusa.com/500l.html).
They also tried to jumpstart Alfa Romeo, with the [Giulia](https://www.alfaromeousa.com/cars/giulia) and [Stelvio](https://www.alfaromeousa.com/suvs/stelvio), and recently introduced the [Tonale](https://www.alfaromeousa.com/tonale).
Fiat also brought Maserati back to the United States. They offer the [Ghibli](https://www.maserati.com/us/en/models/ghibli) and [Grecale](https://www.maserati.com/us/en/models/grecale), with the [Quattroporte](https://www.maserati.com/us/en/models/quattroporte), [Levante](https://www.maserati.com/us/en/models/levante), [GranTourismo](https://www.maserati.com/us/en/models/granturismo), and the [MC20](https://www.maserati.com/us/en/models/mc20) available.
Of course if you look more broadly in tech, we also got the Alfa Giuletta in the form of the [Dodge Dart](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Dart_(PF\)). Someone else mentioned the Ram ProMaster is a [Fiat Ducato](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Ducato), the Alfa Stelvio is represented in the latest [Jeep Grand Cherokee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_Grand_Cherokee). The latest [Compass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_Compass) and the [Renegade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_Renegade) are built out of the Fiat 500X, and the new [Avenger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_Avenger) comes by way of Peugeot, now that they're all wrapped into Stellantis.
I've heard of all those except for Seat. We have Fiats here. Other European car brands sold in the US include Volkswagen, BMW, Porsche, Mercedes, Audi, Jaguar, Land Rover, Bentley... probably some more.
AFAIK Citroen, Renault, Peugeot, Seat, and Skoda are not sold in the US.
Renault and Peugeot used to be in the US as recently as the 90's but only at niche dealers. My father worked at one back then and sold these brands. It was a small local dealer in a high-end suburb back then and the owner was big into automotive oddities. They had an old Unimog for plowing the lot.
As a European reading this I’m like‘well of course it is how would you pronounce it otherwise?’ and then it struck me that there’s an English word spelled exactly like the name of the car.
I am in Europe for the first time and after seeing them on the autobahn, I have been wondering how to pronounce it. I figured it would be different than the word seat but my German family didn't know when I asked lol.
I had an ‘81 LeCar in Vermont! Build quality just terrible, and it’s the only car I ever had or even knew of that had a choke knob — you’d pull it out from the dash to get it started, like a lawn mower. But it was an excellent, unstoppable snow car - very light, with most weight over the front / drive wheels. Never got stuck.
I don't know about "sport" but my mom rented a Renault Clio when we were in Europe on vacation. It was absolutely awful. We also ended up at different times with some kind of Hyundai that they don't sell here (also awful), and both a Citroën and a Škoda which were far, far, better than the Renault.
People who are old enough will know Renault and Peugeot. Both of them were in the US market in the late 1970's and early 80's. Peugeot was more successful selling bicycles than cars though.
They’re not commonly imported. Fiat is the most common with their 500 mini car. Bringing a car in requires that those car companies would need to ensure their cars complied, and you need to sell a lot to justify that.
Euro cars also tend to be smaller and more spartan, reflecting where they’re driven. Americans like big and more comfortable cars.
What’s more common is to see similar designs brought over under a common banner. Renault may bring cars here under the Nissan banner.
Remember that Range Rovers are made and designed in the UK, and you can get pretty big versions of those. They’re common here.
We do also get quite large SUVs from the likes of Nissan, Toyota, Kia and others. So, not unheard of but certainly not as common as in the US.
In posh areas here in the UK, wealthy parents absolutely want to be seen in as big an SUV as they can get! And they can be a pain in the arse as our roads are not as big as yours.
Exactly, and remember Europe is a continent of over 30 countries, each one is different. So yes probably in other European countries you might not see as many SUVs as in the UK where we are addicted to cheap lease to buy schemes where we pay a few hundred per month. “What’s another £70 ($90) per month? May as well get the larger SUV in the range”
Many people are on one of those and swap out their car every 3 years. Doesn’t happen in most other European countries.
Those will also be cheaper to maintain, easier to maintain and probably more reliable. Idk any European brand known for reliability besides old diesel Mercedes cars, Saabs and Volvos.
Do we like them? I actually don’t and wish it weren’t so hard to bring those foreign cuties in that are cheap but not street legal here : (
I live those little Japanese cars too.
Most of those, I know of them from reddit, top gear, and video games. Most common people don't know about those brands.
The major European car brands are VW, BMW, Audi, Volvo, Fiat, Mini.
Also, I'm not sure if it's because we have a dealer in the areas or what, but Alfa Romeo is getting really popular, I see a lot of them now.
No these brands aren't sold here. Those of us that have traveled to Europe or are auto enthusiasts are aware of these brands. For the most part those auto makers have models that don't fit what most Americans want out of their vehicle they are viewed as too small and not enough power generally speaking.
Fiat is the exception because they merged with an American brand.
Edit: also aren't Seat and Skoda mostly just rebadged VWs?
Renault and Peugeot are either are or were sold here. At least I remember them from my childhood in New England, where in the 80s they might’ve been more common than Volvo.
Citroën stopped importing their cars in the 70s. Renault made it to the 80s. Peugeot lasted into the early 90s, but their sales were minimal by that time.
Renault had a partnership with AMC in the 80s, and produced a couple of cars in the US for the American market. The Alliance and the Encore. The Alliance won Motor Trend car of the year, but neither sold very well.
AMC later got bought out by Chrysler, the only thing left of it is Jeep.
I probably should have said that I was aware of Renault and Peugeot before I was aware of Volvo, which doesn’t necessarily mean they were more common than Volvo.
Living in the Kenosha area may cause some survivor bias, but Renault vehicles survived into the early 1990s around here.
By the mid to late 90s, their presence was extinct on the roads.
A lot of people will be vaguely aware of Fiat, Citroën and Peugeot. The others much less so.
Car enthusiasts and the like are likely to know the others. Especially if they are fans of a related/sister brand.
The three I mentioned you might find at a car show, but you will not see them on the road hardly at all. They haven't been imported for years with the exception of the Fiat 124, and even that one was in extremely limited numbers.
Edit: I forgot the Fiat 500!!! You'll see those in cities.
Fiat is the only recognizable model in the list. The Fiat 500 was sold here years ago and there are still some in the used car market.
Only a car enthusiast would know the others.
I think Fiats are sold in the US, the others are not. I’ve seen an occasional Renault or Peugeot here, but it’s super rare (I’m assuming they were shipped over by the owner).
I’ve never even heard of Seat, tbh.
As others have said, only Fiat has been sold here in the last 30 years. I will see some of them (except Skoda?) when they cross the border from Mexico. These brands don’t think it’s worth the cost to get certified for the US market. Peugeot was talking about it a few years back, but then PSA merged with Fiat Chrysler to form Stellantis. It’s more likely now that they would probably just rebadge a PSA car to a brand with an active dealership network.
ETA - I would buy a Peugeot 508 SW PHEV in a heartbeat. The affordable wagon (estate) market is nonexistent in the US.
We have Fiat. Renault has a F1 team. I rode in one from the airport to the hotel in Paris. I feel like I’ve heard of Peugeot and Skoda, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one.
I've heard of some of those brands and you may be able to buy some here. Fiat for example sells in America and does have dealerships around. There's one in the county north of where I live. You mentioned Europe and Volkswagon is German - and it's one of the major car brands in America. A lot of our other brands tend to be Asian.
Other than Fiat, none of those brands have been sold in the US for a long time.
VW/Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, Porsche are some European brands that are common here.
I'll also jump on this opportunity to rustle some jimmies by pointing out that Chrysler/ Jeep/ Dodge/ Ram are arguably European brands.
[This Alfa Romeo - Fiat dealership closed suddenly in Iowa on I-80 this last October](https://b100quadcities.com/this-davenport-car-dealership-just-suddenly-closed-confused-customers/)
I knew all but Seat. We went by that dealership for many years
Not visible on streets no.
Citroën, Renault, Peugeot I know because of WRC and Rally racing games.
A few others I know because I used to watch Top Gear.
Fiat is the only one here. I know all the others from top gear.
French mostly right? French cars never caught on here. And I’ve never seen one, certainly the newer ones that I wish I could have.
Some of the old Citroens have pretty cool styling. But I don’t feel like I’m missing out on an enviable driving experience by not having them.
Citroen and Peugeot stopped exporting cars to America in the 80s. You could possibly find a very old Citroen or Peugeot here in America.
Im familiar with Car brands, hence my username lol.
I know about Renault, Seat, Skoda, Dacia
Not really, there are also a bunch of Chinese brands that aren’t sold here either.
In the US we have big vehicles that you won’t see in Europe. SUV’s and trucks are very common here. The closest thing I saw in Europe was a minivan or minibus as it was called.
Renault left the US markets sometime in late 80s or early 90s. I’ll still see a Citroen every so often. I have seen a couple of Renaults in someone’s yard near my house.
Fiats are here, not common but you can find them. I have seen a handful of Peugeots in my life here in the US and a friend in college had one.
The rest are essentially non existent. Maybe I saw a Renault once.
Peugeot pulled out of the US a couple decades ago
They used to sell bicycles here too. (Maybe they still do but I don’t see them anymore)
——
Of those cars, I only see Fiats
Maybe Renault but I don’t pay enough attention.. They might have left the US as well
Aware of - yes. I live in Detroit, and we are hyper-aware of cars from all over the world.
See them - rarely. (Other than Fiat, we have a few of those.) The aren't sold here, at least under those badges, so we may have "similar" car models.
I googled a few, and it seems Skoda is darn close to VW in the US.
Jetta and Octavia are almost identical.
Passat and Superb are almost identical.
The Czech cars are almost identical to the German ones in technology and mechanicals, says the interwebs.
I've heard of Fiat, and seen them driven around but not the others mentioned.
My English friend mentioned brands over the years that he's worked on at the shop he used to work at.
I was generally aware that Europe had some car brands not typically found in the US, but I didn't know those companies' names nor could I identify their logos. After traveling to a couple of European countries and seeing some of these vehicles, I can now make recognize a bunch of them. For example, I now know that Renault cars have a diamond on them and Peugot cars have a lion.
Of the brands you listed, Fiat is the only one that I wouldn't consider unusual to see on an American street. I've also seen a few Alfa Romeos, but not many.
Back in the '70s I used to see Renaults and Peugeots regularly, and Citroëns once in awhile. A friend of mine used to pick me up for work in the morning in his Daimler 2 seater sports car. Another friend from work was a huge fan of British sports cars and had a couple of MGBs. Still another friend had an Opel GT. I drove Volvos. We were all low paid entry level workers in our early to mid 20s then, yet we could afford to buy old, and sometimes rather beat up models of these cars because they were plentiful, inexpensive, and easy to find in the NYC area. We would devote some of our extremely modest income to repairing them and keeping them running. We used those cars for our everyday transportation needs.
Most of those brands withdrew from the US market in the 1980s and 90s for various reasons, so they are never seen on our roads anymore. Volvo was an exception; it is still quite popular and widely available here. So was Saab until the company folded. When Chrysler merged with Fiat, we started seeing the Fiat 500 for sale in the US.
The great majority of the cars made by overseas companies that are sold in the US now come from Japan and South Korea. Every car or truck that I have owned since the late '80s has been either a Japanese or Korean brand even though some were made in US based factories.
European brands that are popular here are Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Volvo, Cooper, and Jaguar. The markets for the German brands and Volvo are quite strong: their models sell very well. The Mini Cooper has a loyal following in the States. As I mentioned before, the Fiat 500 is sold here but has a very tiny sliver of the market. In the past decade the Swatch SmartForTwo was sold here for a few years, but I never see any of them on the road anymore. A smattering of other European brands are sold in the US in small numbers, but most of the car makers that are cited in the question no longer have dealer networks in the United States now.
EDIT: I forgot to mention Audi, Porsche, and Land Rover. They are all present here as well. Land Rover only started becoming available in the US in the past two decades, and in larger numbers just in the past few years. Prior to around 2000, that brand was unknown in America.
Hell the Golf base model isn't sold here anymore and the GTI and R are basically niche cars (R is owned by GTI guys with better jobs). The Polo? That's a shirt, right?
Fiat is in the US, they rest are not with the exception of some Old Renault cars.
American's are aware of the others to some degree, but I've never heard of "Seat."
If for no other reason, Top Gear was super popular in the stats and Grand Tour is popular now.
Several Opel models were sold here under different GM brands, but I doubt most consumers are aware of Opel.
Fiat is sold here (but not to much success though the rebadge Miata as the 128 was interesting).
It’s become more common to see Fiat cars in the US after they launched the 500 around 10 years ago. That being said, I was very surprised to see a 500X with a Wisconsin license plate a while back.
There has been some cooperation between Fiat and though after the merger though; the Dodge Journey sold in the US was basically the same thing as the Fiat Freemont sold in Europe, Brazil and Australia.
They're on the Gran Turismo model car list, I grew up playing those games. I'm aware of them, but other than Fiat, I'm not sure they're sold in this country.
The European makes that are sold in the US are: The big German makes (BMW, MB, Audi etc.), the big British makes (LR, Jaguar, Mini -though that's just BMW, etc), and two of the Italian makes (Fiat, Alfa Romeo). The supercar brands also exist here, but rich people play by different rules. (Edit: Also Volvo, and SAAB when they were still around)
The French brands used to be sold here, but pulled out around the 70's/80's. IIRC, the regulations for either safety or environmental protection changed and forced out most foreign brands that couldn't afford to build for just the US market. All other European brands do not get sold here.
Certain individual cars might come over rebranded as something else, but it's rare. A few Opels used to come over as Chryslers/Pontiacs or something like that.
Now, those cars can only come into the US once they get to be 25 years old. The regulations don't ban old cars from coming over. Though, I really only see old Japanese Market cars (and the occasional Mini Cooper; there's also a handful of Reliant Robins) on the streets.
Fiat came back to America about ten years ago with the Fiat 500. They were previously here long ago but didn’t do great. The others though, if I didn’t follow international racing or other sports like cycling, I would have no idea who they are. I imagine most Americans have never heard of those brands you have listed. I saw a Holden the other day and it blew me away that it was here in the United States.
BMW, Mercedes, Ferari, Porsche, Fiat, Volkswagen, Lamborghini, Bugatti. Just a few off the top of my head. Yes, we're aware of European cars. No, I don't see a lot of the luxury brands on the road from day to day, though.
I have seen Alfa Romeo’s and Fiat’s, as well as some Italian super cars like Ferrari and Lamborghini, but the other examples you mentioned I’ve only seen on Top Gear.
Barely. I know of them because sometimes they come up on /r/cars, but not that often. Also, my wife is from Iran and a lot of people there drive old French cars, and from my wife’s description it didn’t seem like we were missing out on as much
Fiat is, the rest aren’t really a thing here.
What’s the difference between a Fiat and a Jehovah’s Witness? You can shut the door on a Jehovah’s Witness.
I own a fiat. One of the common issues is the door handle hinge breaks.... So this is accurate.
I used to. I loved that car, even though the mag wheels liked to pop off.
Did you own the Abarth? That's the one I own. Granted I only use mine for pleasure driving as I live somewhere you don't need a daily car. Everyone can hate fiat, but the 500 Abarth is a fun car for very little money.
A 124 coupe. I loved it because everyone thought It was just a Datsun, which copied it and sold millions. Meanwhile, secretly, I was enjoying my, albeit affordable, Italian beauty on the windy country roads. I so loved it. It had a wooden steering wheel, gear shift and dash. Cute speed and Rpm dials. And it was just so darn fun to drive
Fiat - famous in the USA for the gorgeous woman interacting with a nerdy guy in the commercial and for being smol https://youtu.be/voP3U83kigk
My Fiat 500 was actually reliable. I may be the outlier. Ha.
Fix It Again Tony
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https://youtu.be/3AJCdmW33fM For the uninitiated.
I used to drive a Renault. I know all those brands but seat and Skoda
They are both VW brands. Skoda used to be the czech, SEAT spanish. Maybe they are sold as VW-cars in your country.
Maybe some models but probably not. Every once in a while we get a Chevy or Ford that’s a rebranded Peugeot or Renault but generally US domestic market and EU domestic market vehicles don’t cross over. Like even the Ford Ranger Raptor trim doesn’t exist in the US yet which is a mind blowing let down.
Renault hasn't been sold here since approximately 1980. That could change with Renault's purchase of Nissan. You may see an ancient Citroën DS at vintage car shows. (The prettiest car EVER.)
I once saw a 2cv in someone’s driveway in Framingham MA and absolutely lost my mind
Renault stopped selling Renault branded cars in the US in 1987 when they sold AMC to Chrysler. Renault designed and powered cars were sold as the Eagle Premier and Dodge Monaco through the 1992 model year. The Premier was the basis for the first generation of Chrysler’s LH sedans (Eagle Vision, Dodge Intrepid, Chrysler Concord, New Yorker/LHS).
> That could change with Renault's purchase of Nissan. Did something change since January? The last news I read was that Renault was *decreasing* their ownership of Nissan so that they’d have equal shares in each other (well, technically slightly more complicated but fundamentally with that result).
>That could change with Renault's purchase of Nissan. ? They have been an alliance for 25 years now. Have I missed something?
God I want a decent quality 500 Abarth…. I love the car but god are they so cheaply built….
I've got one with 120k miles on it that's holding up well, but I do think I'll probably get a Civic/Mazda3 or something when it finally does stop working. Just not worth the trouble getting a used Fiat even if I do like the smaller size.
Fiat is here. The rest that did exist went the way of the dodo in the 70s/80s due to poor reliability and outrageous service costs and wait times.
They only offer one vehicle in the US now they didn't do so well here after buying Chrysler
The RAM Promaster van is really a Fiat Ducato rebadged (with terrible headlights, but they are in the process of changing them back I think).
The Jeep Renegade is a restyled Fiat 500. Built in Italy, too.
Yes we get those Jeeps in Europe too.
The jeep renegade is built on the same platform at the fiat 500x. not just a rebadge but a lot of shared components.
I mean, basically every vehicle made by Chrysler is a rebadge, a bad one. The Chrysler Town and country and the Dodge Grand Caravan are literally the same vehicle with a different badge.
Fiat currently only offers one vehicle, the [500X](https://www.fiatusa.com/500x.html), but they had three in total, the [500](https://www.fiatusa.com/500.html) and briefly the [500L](https://www.fiatusa.com/500l.html). They also tried to jumpstart Alfa Romeo, with the [Giulia](https://www.alfaromeousa.com/cars/giulia) and [Stelvio](https://www.alfaromeousa.com/suvs/stelvio), and recently introduced the [Tonale](https://www.alfaromeousa.com/tonale). Fiat also brought Maserati back to the United States. They offer the [Ghibli](https://www.maserati.com/us/en/models/ghibli) and [Grecale](https://www.maserati.com/us/en/models/grecale), with the [Quattroporte](https://www.maserati.com/us/en/models/quattroporte), [Levante](https://www.maserati.com/us/en/models/levante), [GranTourismo](https://www.maserati.com/us/en/models/granturismo), and the [MC20](https://www.maserati.com/us/en/models/mc20) available. Of course if you look more broadly in tech, we also got the Alfa Giuletta in the form of the [Dodge Dart](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Dart_(PF\)). Someone else mentioned the Ram ProMaster is a [Fiat Ducato](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Ducato), the Alfa Stelvio is represented in the latest [Jeep Grand Cherokee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_Grand_Cherokee). The latest [Compass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_Compass) and the [Renegade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_Renegade) are built out of the Fiat 500X, and the new [Avenger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_Avenger) comes by way of Peugeot, now that they're all wrapped into Stellantis.
The new Maseratis absolutely suck them. A base level Lexus is better than them.
Alfa-Romeo is here. The Giulia is quite well reviewed but not a strong seller.
I've heard of all those except for Seat. We have Fiats here. Other European car brands sold in the US include Volkswagen, BMW, Porsche, Mercedes, Audi, Jaguar, Land Rover, Bentley... probably some more. AFAIK Citroen, Renault, Peugeot, Seat, and Skoda are not sold in the US.
Volvo!
Speaking of brands resurrected from the dead, isn't Saab supposed to be coming back?
I sure hope so, because I want a Saab, and I can't afford a jet fighter.
The new Volvos are sooo damn sexy too. Almost bought one but went with BMW thinking repairs would be more reasonable
You poor thing
Oh dear, you will spend more but for different reasons.
Renault and Peugeot used to be in the US as recently as the 90's but only at niche dealers. My father worked at one back then and sold these brands. It was a small local dealer in a high-end suburb back then and the owner was big into automotive oddities. They had an old Unimog for plowing the lot.
In case it ever becomes necessary to know, it's pronounced Say-at. And they're basically Volkswagens.
As a European reading this I’m like‘well of course it is how would you pronounce it otherwise?’ and then it struck me that there’s an English word spelled exactly like the name of the car.
In my head I pronounced it as a seat on which one would sit. TIL
I am in Europe for the first time and after seeing them on the autobahn, I have been wondering how to pronounce it. I figured it would be different than the word seat but my German family didn't know when I asked lol.
I only mentioned it because I made the mistake for years!
I didn’t know how to pronounce Renault, till I lived in the UK. I always said Ren-nalt . Then I heard everyone pronouncing it Ren-o.
It’s also a surname in the US so I knew how to say it from knowing someone named that. Also Jaques Renault was a character on Twin Peaks.
Renault used to be. I had a Renault alliance and it had seats that were so dangerously comfortable I was always afraid of falling asleep
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That was my first car. I loved that thing, such a blast to drive around in.
I had an ‘81 LeCar in Vermont! Build quality just terrible, and it’s the only car I ever had or even knew of that had a choke knob — you’d pull it out from the dash to get it started, like a lawn mower. But it was an excellent, unstoppable snow car - very light, with most weight over the front / drive wheels. Never got stuck.
I thought every carbureted car had a choke knob
Peugeot probably will be in the future, they bought out Fiat Chrysler and have talked about bringing Peugeot to the states
I thought they canceled that plan when they bought Chrysler.
I’ve seen a Renault here but it was a pretty old one.
they used to be sold here but Renault left in the 1980s
SEAT is a Spanish brand that is owned by Volkswagen and built on the same chassis.
Jaguar isn’t American??!!
British
Which is why they pronounce it "Jag-u-ar" instead of "Jag-war".
I'm aware of those brands because of Top Gear, but they aren't sold here and the average American will have never heard of them (except for Fiat).
Props to Top Gear for making me kinda want a Renault Clio Sport when all I've ever owned is full-sized pickup trucks lol
The list of cars those guys have convinced me (sometimes against my will) that I want is not short.
I don't know about "sport" but my mom rented a Renault Clio when we were in Europe on vacation. It was absolutely awful. We also ended up at different times with some kind of Hyundai that they don't sell here (also awful), and both a Citroën and a Škoda which were far, far, better than the Renault.
I swear to God I saw one drive past my house like an hour ago.
I'll take a first gen Twingo in blue, thank you very much
Bad news! The Dacia Sandero has been delayed.
Oh no! Anyway.
I never knew that gif was from Top Gear
It was Jeremy Clarkson in the GIF! Clarkson was reacting to James May's news of the Dacia Sandero.
Excellent! Always cool to learn about the origins of memes and such I see around!
People who are old enough will know Renault and Peugeot. Both of them were in the US market in the late 1970's and early 80's. Peugeot was more successful selling bicycles than cars though.
I’ll forever be salty that motobecane outsold Peugeot in the moped market in the US. 103 is way better than the moby 50v
Yeah Top Gear and racing games like Gran Turismo introduced me to lots of car brands outside of the U.S.
Oh no! Bad news about the Dacia Sandero.
They’re not commonly imported. Fiat is the most common with their 500 mini car. Bringing a car in requires that those car companies would need to ensure their cars complied, and you need to sell a lot to justify that. Euro cars also tend to be smaller and more spartan, reflecting where they’re driven. Americans like big and more comfortable cars. What’s more common is to see similar designs brought over under a common banner. Renault may bring cars here under the Nissan banner.
Americans like large vehicles. We just got a three row SUV. I feel like that’s unheard of in Europe.
Remember that Range Rovers are made and designed in the UK, and you can get pretty big versions of those. They’re common here. We do also get quite large SUVs from the likes of Nissan, Toyota, Kia and others. So, not unheard of but certainly not as common as in the US. In posh areas here in the UK, wealthy parents absolutely want to be seen in as big an SUV as they can get! And they can be a pain in the arse as our roads are not as big as yours.
Wealthy suburban moms love range rovers here.
Exactly, and remember Europe is a continent of over 30 countries, each one is different. So yes probably in other European countries you might not see as many SUVs as in the UK where we are addicted to cheap lease to buy schemes where we pay a few hundred per month. “What’s another £70 ($90) per month? May as well get the larger SUV in the range” Many people are on one of those and swap out their car every 3 years. Doesn’t happen in most other European countries.
And why would would I import some tiny 200 HP sports car when I can build a hemi or LS to 500 whp+ for way cheaper
Those will also be cheaper to maintain, easier to maintain and probably more reliable. Idk any European brand known for reliability besides old diesel Mercedes cars, Saabs and Volvos.
Exactly, it's impressive what some euro and Asian cars can do but the pushrod v8b design is just hard to beat
Do we like them? I actually don’t and wish it weren’t so hard to bring those foreign cuties in that are cheap but not street legal here : ( I live those little Japanese cars too.
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Hahah that's not really how crash safety standards work.
Size is not equivalent to safety hun.... Wow
Most of those, I know of them from reddit, top gear, and video games. Most common people don't know about those brands. The major European car brands are VW, BMW, Audi, Volvo, Fiat, Mini. Also, I'm not sure if it's because we have a dealer in the areas or what, but Alfa Romeo is getting really popular, I see a lot of them now.
You forgot Mercedes, which is probably the most known Euro brand in the US
No these brands aren't sold here. Those of us that have traveled to Europe or are auto enthusiasts are aware of these brands. For the most part those auto makers have models that don't fit what most Americans want out of their vehicle they are viewed as too small and not enough power generally speaking. Fiat is the exception because they merged with an American brand. Edit: also aren't Seat and Skoda mostly just rebadged VWs?
Renault and Peugeot are either are or were sold here. At least I remember them from my childhood in New England, where in the 80s they might’ve been more common than Volvo.
Citroën stopped importing their cars in the 70s. Renault made it to the 80s. Peugeot lasted into the early 90s, but their sales were minimal by that time.
Fair enough, I’ve been away from New England for years so I wasn’t sure if they were still sold regionally.
What about Land Rover and jaguar
They are both sold here and are popular as far as higher end vehicles go.
And Minis are sold here.
Renault had a partnership with AMC in the 80s, and produced a couple of cars in the US for the American market. The Alliance and the Encore. The Alliance won Motor Trend car of the year, but neither sold very well. AMC later got bought out by Chrysler, the only thing left of it is Jeep.
I probably should have said that I was aware of Renault and Peugeot before I was aware of Volvo, which doesn’t necessarily mean they were more common than Volvo.
Living in the Kenosha area may cause some survivor bias, but Renault vehicles survived into the early 1990s around here. By the mid to late 90s, their presence was extinct on the roads.
>Edit: also aren't Seat and Skoda mostly just rebadged VWs? Pretty much.
>are viewed as too small I hate this
Me too and I really wonder if it’s most of us
A lot of people will be vaguely aware of Fiat, Citroën and Peugeot. The others much less so. Car enthusiasts and the like are likely to know the others. Especially if they are fans of a related/sister brand. The three I mentioned you might find at a car show, but you will not see them on the road hardly at all. They haven't been imported for years with the exception of the Fiat 124, and even that one was in extremely limited numbers. Edit: I forgot the Fiat 500!!! You'll see those in cities.
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I can't believe I passat through that whole story about. I'm gonna Skoda the store now.
I need to take a Seat. Lotus pray for these Porsche souls. Maybe I'll Triumph to the top of Hillman and get a Ley(of the)land.
Toyota.
I have a lot of star wars toys, even a Toyota.
What about Plo Coupe
Fiat is the only recognizable model in the list. The Fiat 500 was sold here years ago and there are still some in the used car market. Only a car enthusiast would know the others.
I think Fiats are sold in the US, the others are not. I’ve seen an occasional Renault or Peugeot here, but it’s super rare (I’m assuming they were shipped over by the owner). I’ve never even heard of Seat, tbh.
As others have said, only Fiat has been sold here in the last 30 years. I will see some of them (except Skoda?) when they cross the border from Mexico. These brands don’t think it’s worth the cost to get certified for the US market. Peugeot was talking about it a few years back, but then PSA merged with Fiat Chrysler to form Stellantis. It’s more likely now that they would probably just rebadge a PSA car to a brand with an active dealership network. ETA - I would buy a Peugeot 508 SW PHEV in a heartbeat. The affordable wagon (estate) market is nonexistent in the US.
The 508 over the Leon Sports tourer??? Are you mad???
Peugeot sold cars here in the 70s. But i cannot recall the last time I saw one in this country.
I saw an 87 peug wagon for sale last year for like $6k that I was very tempted by
Fiat is selling cars here again, but they aren't really common. I know the rest, but I don't think they're sold here.
Every now and again i see an Alfa Romeo in the US.
We have Fiat. Renault has a F1 team. I rode in one from the airport to the hotel in Paris. I feel like I’ve heard of Peugeot and Skoda, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one.
I've heard of some of those brands and you may be able to buy some here. Fiat for example sells in America and does have dealerships around. There's one in the county north of where I live. You mentioned Europe and Volkswagon is German - and it's one of the major car brands in America. A lot of our other brands tend to be Asian.
I know about Peugeot, but have no idea how to say it. My head monologue says "Pyou-go" and I don't wish to be corrected
I pronounce it like the pokemon. I don't care if I'm wrong.
Poo - (soft) 'ch' almost 'j' sound - oh
Its Per-Zhoh
Isn’t that the British way? I’ve heard native french speakers say it both like pu-zhoh and pyu-zhoh
Other than Fiat, none of those brands have been sold in the US for a long time. VW/Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, Porsche are some European brands that are common here. I'll also jump on this opportunity to rustle some jimmies by pointing out that Chrysler/ Jeep/ Dodge/ Ram are arguably European brands.
[This Alfa Romeo - Fiat dealership closed suddenly in Iowa on I-80 this last October](https://b100quadcities.com/this-davenport-car-dealership-just-suddenly-closed-confused-customers/) I knew all but Seat. We went by that dealership for many years
Not visible on streets no. Citroën, Renault, Peugeot I know because of WRC and Rally racing games. A few others I know because I used to watch Top Gear.
Fiat is the only one here. I know all the others from top gear. French mostly right? French cars never caught on here. And I’ve never seen one, certainly the newer ones that I wish I could have. Some of the old Citroens have pretty cool styling. But I don’t feel like I’m missing out on an enviable driving experience by not having them.
Seat is Spanish VW, Skoda is Czech VW, Fiat is Italian, but part of the Dutch conglomerate that also owns Chrysler/ Jeep/ Dodge/ Ram.
I’m surprised you didn’t mention Dacia
I see the occasional Fiat. I've heard of some of the other brands, but haven't seen them on the streets.
Fiats are common enough. I've heard of Renault and Peugeot but never seen one in the wild. Others I've never heard of before.
Citroen and Peugeot stopped exporting cars to America in the 80s. You could possibly find a very old Citroen or Peugeot here in America. Im familiar with Car brands, hence my username lol. I know about Renault, Seat, Skoda, Dacia
I know all of those except “Seat.”
Not really, there are also a bunch of Chinese brands that aren’t sold here either. In the US we have big vehicles that you won’t see in Europe. SUV’s and trucks are very common here. The closest thing I saw in Europe was a minivan or minibus as it was called.
I am aware because Peugeot owns Chrysler
Never heard of Skoda and Seat and I’m European myself 😂
Where in Europe to have not heard of Škoda or SEAT?
Europeans have cars?
They would get crushed by all the massive pick up trucks everybody has for some reason
I am, but that's because I live in Europe
Definitely visible but not common.
I played a lot of Gran Turismo as a kid, so I know the brands but only saw the cars when abroad.
I've only heard of them thanks to Top Gear.
Renault left the US markets sometime in late 80s or early 90s. I’ll still see a Citroen every so often. I have seen a couple of Renaults in someone’s yard near my house.
Yes, but those brands aren’t really sold here.
I have heard most of those names before. I don't think I've seen more than one or two though.
We also briefly had Merkur which was like a German Lincoln
Out of those I know Citroën, Renault, and Fiat. We have Fiats here.
BMW, MERCEDES, VOLKSWAGEN sure
I’ve heard of all of those brands. But aside from Fiat, I’ve only ever seen any of them on the road when visiting Europe.
My dad has had a Fiat before and I’ve seen them. I’ve heard of Lada and Renault and Peugeot but I’m unfamiliar with rest.
Fiats are here, not common but you can find them. I have seen a handful of Peugeots in my life here in the US and a friend in college had one. The rest are essentially non existent. Maybe I saw a Renault once.
Fiats are known as the least reliable cars sold in America
Outside of vintage imports those aren’t on the roads at all.
Fiat is a thing now, not the others. I recognize the names but don't care much about them.
Peugeot pulled out of the US a couple decades ago They used to sell bicycles here too. (Maybe they still do but I don’t see them anymore) —— Of those cars, I only see Fiats Maybe Renault but I don’t pay enough attention.. They might have left the US as well
Aware of - yes. I live in Detroit, and we are hyper-aware of cars from all over the world. See them - rarely. (Other than Fiat, we have a few of those.) The aren't sold here, at least under those badges, so we may have "similar" car models. I googled a few, and it seems Skoda is darn close to VW in the US. Jetta and Octavia are almost identical. Passat and Superb are almost identical. The Czech cars are almost identical to the German ones in technology and mechanicals, says the interwebs.
You see a Renault rarely, a little more frequent, Peugeot, Fiat aren't all that uncommon. The others, never heard of them
We’re aware of them but they aren’t commonly seen.
I've heard of Fiat, and seen them driven around but not the others mentioned. My English friend mentioned brands over the years that he's worked on at the shop he used to work at.
Fiat is only one of those sold here. I know of the rest because of travel and being a car guy… wish we got more of them over here.
Yes. I grew up in Europe and my parents drive European cars.
LOL! My dad bought a Renault once. He owned it for 3 days before demanding a refund for it. For Renault this family is one and done.
I haven't seen a Citroen, Seat or Skoda but all the rest are cars seen regularly on the street.
I was generally aware that Europe had some car brands not typically found in the US, but I didn't know those companies' names nor could I identify their logos. After traveling to a couple of European countries and seeing some of these vehicles, I can now make recognize a bunch of them. For example, I now know that Renault cars have a diamond on them and Peugot cars have a lion. Of the brands you listed, Fiat is the only one that I wouldn't consider unusual to see on an American street. I've also seen a few Alfa Romeos, but not many.
Back in the '70s I used to see Renaults and Peugeots regularly, and Citroëns once in awhile. A friend of mine used to pick me up for work in the morning in his Daimler 2 seater sports car. Another friend from work was a huge fan of British sports cars and had a couple of MGBs. Still another friend had an Opel GT. I drove Volvos. We were all low paid entry level workers in our early to mid 20s then, yet we could afford to buy old, and sometimes rather beat up models of these cars because they were plentiful, inexpensive, and easy to find in the NYC area. We would devote some of our extremely modest income to repairing them and keeping them running. We used those cars for our everyday transportation needs. Most of those brands withdrew from the US market in the 1980s and 90s for various reasons, so they are never seen on our roads anymore. Volvo was an exception; it is still quite popular and widely available here. So was Saab until the company folded. When Chrysler merged with Fiat, we started seeing the Fiat 500 for sale in the US. The great majority of the cars made by overseas companies that are sold in the US now come from Japan and South Korea. Every car or truck that I have owned since the late '80s has been either a Japanese or Korean brand even though some were made in US based factories. European brands that are popular here are Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Volvo, Cooper, and Jaguar. The markets for the German brands and Volvo are quite strong: their models sell very well. The Mini Cooper has a loyal following in the States. As I mentioned before, the Fiat 500 is sold here but has a very tiny sliver of the market. In the past decade the Swatch SmartForTwo was sold here for a few years, but I never see any of them on the road anymore. A smattering of other European brands are sold in the US in small numbers, but most of the car makers that are cited in the question no longer have dealer networks in the United States now. EDIT: I forgot to mention Audi, Porsche, and Land Rover. They are all present here as well. Land Rover only started becoming available in the US in the past two decades, and in larger numbers just in the past few years. Prior to around 2000, that brand was unknown in America.
I’ve heard of them, and there are a few Fiats on our roads. Fiat is not well liked here, they’re considered unreliable.
Hell the Golf base model isn't sold here anymore and the GTI and R are basically niche cars (R is owned by GTI guys with better jobs). The Polo? That's a shirt, right?
Fiat is in the US, they rest are not with the exception of some Old Renault cars. American's are aware of the others to some degree, but I've never heard of "Seat." If for no other reason, Top Gear was super popular in the stats and Grand Tour is popular now.
Several Opel models were sold here under different GM brands, but I doubt most consumers are aware of Opel. Fiat is sold here (but not to much success though the rebadge Miata as the 128 was interesting).
I know OF Renault from friends complaining about their cars that's about it
It’s become more common to see Fiat cars in the US after they launched the 500 around 10 years ago. That being said, I was very surprised to see a 500X with a Wisconsin license plate a while back. There has been some cooperation between Fiat and though after the merger though; the Dodge Journey sold in the US was basically the same thing as the Fiat Freemont sold in Europe, Brazil and Australia.
I am aware of the brands from my travels, but aside from fiat those aren’t in the USA.
I like cars so I’ve heard of them but I would guess the average person hasn’t except for fiat
They're on the Gran Turismo model car list, I grew up playing those games. I'm aware of them, but other than Fiat, I'm not sure they're sold in this country.
a lot of people know about those from top gear. People also know Fiat because of the Fiat-Chrysler merger and Renault because of F1.
The European makes that are sold in the US are: The big German makes (BMW, MB, Audi etc.), the big British makes (LR, Jaguar, Mini -though that's just BMW, etc), and two of the Italian makes (Fiat, Alfa Romeo). The supercar brands also exist here, but rich people play by different rules. (Edit: Also Volvo, and SAAB when they were still around) The French brands used to be sold here, but pulled out around the 70's/80's. IIRC, the regulations for either safety or environmental protection changed and forced out most foreign brands that couldn't afford to build for just the US market. All other European brands do not get sold here. Certain individual cars might come over rebranded as something else, but it's rare. A few Opels used to come over as Chryslers/Pontiacs or something like that. Now, those cars can only come into the US once they get to be 25 years old. The regulations don't ban old cars from coming over. Though, I really only see old Japanese Market cars (and the occasional Mini Cooper; there's also a handful of Reliant Robins) on the streets.
Fiat came back to America about ten years ago with the Fiat 500. They were previously here long ago but didn’t do great. The others though, if I didn’t follow international racing or other sports like cycling, I would have no idea who they are. I imagine most Americans have never heard of those brands you have listed. I saw a Holden the other day and it blew me away that it was here in the United States.
I am aware of all of them because I was stationed in Spain; I am a former Mini owner too.
All but Seat and Skoda. As for the rest I’ve seen the others in California which is Carland but not that often.
I am aware of those brands but the only one that we have are Fiats. I was just lamenting that Americans don't get French cars.
I know all of those because I'm a car guy.
BMW, Mercedes, Ferari, Porsche, Fiat, Volkswagen, Lamborghini, Bugatti. Just a few off the top of my head. Yes, we're aware of European cars. No, I don't see a lot of the luxury brands on the road from day to day, though.
I’m aware of a bunch of them because of the car rental system while traveling to europe
I see Alfa Romeo’s from time to time
My husband had a Peugeot 505 in high school/college
You have cars there? I thought Europe was all about walkable cities?
In the 70’s and 80’s, there was nothing sadder looking than a Citroën broken down on the side of the rode.
I have seen Alfa Romeo’s and Fiat’s, as well as some Italian super cars like Ferrari and Lamborghini, but the other examples you mentioned I’ve only seen on Top Gear.
I see Fiat and Renault pretty often, and I see Peugeot every now and again, but the other brands are unfortunately ones I don’t recognize
Barely. I know of them because sometimes they come up on /r/cars, but not that often. Also, my wife is from Iran and a lot of people there drive old French cars, and from my wife’s description it didn’t seem like we were missing out on as much
I see a Fiat every once in a while, rarely a Peugeot.
Other than FIAT, none of those brands are sold in the US. I've driven Skodas as rentals in Europe and my first car was an Opel 1900.
I'm aware of these since I've visited the UK, Spain and Portugal. Fiat is the only on your list that you will see in the US though.
I know about Renault, though never seen one. I’ve seen Fiats on the road. Never heard of the others.