German cars are considered very flashy status symbols in the US. How are American cars viewed over there?
Ford Escort, Taunus and Granada were among the first station wagons on the German market, and propelled Ford to more than 15% market share in the 1970s. However, while other manufacturers, especially VW ("Passat"), but also BMW, entered the station wagon segment, Ford decided to focus on Limousines instead, and thus missed out a good part of the 1980s/ 1990s station wagon boom in Germany. The Ford Scorpio, e.g., was introduced in 1985, but only became available as station wagon in 1992. They missed out a number of other market trends as well, e.g. fuel-efficiency, or minivans (Ford Fusion introduced in 2002, six years after Citroen Berlingo and four years after Renault Kangoo). Some models had severe quality problems (Galaxy van, turbocharger motors offered for middle-class models), which lead to the popular joke: "Er fuhr Ford und kam nie wieder" (He drove Ford/further, and never came back). Their advertisement slogan over the last 10 years has been "FORD- die tun was" (FORD - they are doing something), which, I think, is pretty self-explaining. German market share is now 6.7% and continues to fall.
Opel, which was never regarded as American, but as German, used to have a loyal customer base until the 1980s. Especially the old Opel Kadett models (up to Kadett D) were and are still cult, lots of fan clubs. The sportive Opel Manta is also cult, but a very special one. There are hundreds of jokes about Manta drivers ("
The shortest Manta joke - There is a Manta standing in front of college..." "Why do many Manta drivers put a bale of straw on the co-driver's seat? Hey, it's blonde" ).
From the mid-80s on, German top management at Opel was more and more replaced by Americans, which resulted in quality going down, and major trends (especially fuel efficiency, but also design-related) being overlooked. Their German market share has decreased from 20.4% in 1972 to 6.9% (2012).
Otherwise, American cars are typically considered 'exotic'- road cruisers, pick-ups, SUVs. Embodiment of elements of the "American Dream", but very fuel-inefficient and not suited for everyday use in Germany. Until recently, they never were regularly imported into Germany, though you find them occasionally, mostly as collector's items or bought used from American soldiers that were stationed here.
Nevertheless, the Chevrolet brand used to have a specific 1950s / 60s flair, which could have been exploited in the upper-middle class segment. This was probably also the idea when GM in 2005 decided to systematically introduce Chevrolet as a brand in Germany and other European countries. However, in their wisdom, GM decided to use the brand as well for former Daewoo models, to quickly gain market share and equally quickly a poor quality reputation with the Matiz. More recently, however, sales of some US models, especially the Orlando, Captiva and Cruze have picked up (segment market shares between 1 and 3.5%), making Chevrolet one of the market share winners in 2012. The trend has reversed in 2013, with Chevrolet losing market shares across all segments except for the Cruze. Overall, the brand and most models are too new, and the market share too small, for a reputation to already have formed. Test reports typically find the Chevrolets to be solid but unspectacular, reasonably priced, quite spacious, but consuming far too much fuel in comparison to most competitors.
