If you asked Americans to name the brands of cars that had more aspire to own someday, European plates high rate on that list, especially in the department of used cars at dealerships, as Hoffman Estates Used Cars. Despite recent advances by the Japanese high-end, the heritage of luxury cars associated with nameplates like BMW and Mercedes Benz gives the marks of a permanent halo of prestige "among U.S. consumers.
This is illustrated dramatically in 2001 vehicle quality survey by JD Power. Respondents were asked to evaluate their feelings about the "big picture" of 34 brands on a scale from 1 ( "Unacceptable") to 10 ( "excellent"). JD Power ranked nameplate for each based on the percentage of respondents rated a mark of 9 or 10. European brands captured eight of the twelve first "image" positions:
1. Mercedes-Benz
2. BMW
3. Lexus
4. Porsche
5. Jaguar
6. Volvo
7. Acura
8. Audi
9. Cadillac
10. Lincoln
11. Saab
12. Volkswagen (Land Rover was the number eighteen)
Most of us would probably be surprised to learn that the nine European plates together represented only 6.9 percent of U.S. auto sales in 2002. But of course, racial exclusivity cachet. If all led, not considered so special. This is true even of used cars, as recently noted by Hoffman Estates used cars concession.
Also, if we were asked to name the brands of cars with the highest levels of reliability, many of the European plates would be among the first mentioned. And most of us are surprised to learn that few Europeans are among the quality leaders today. But the perception has not caught up with reality in these marks. They still retain their strong positive image, built over many decades. As a result, compared with domestic nameplates, Europeans are sold for higher prices, have less incentive, and retain their value better than the vehicles used at dealerships throughout the country, including Hoffman Estates used cars.
As with the Japanese, there are certain levels of European competitors, based on sales volumes and market strength.
• Level 1 sales leaders, Volkswagen / Audi, BMW and Mercedes Benz, accounted for 76.7 percent of sales of European nameplate U.S. in 2002.
• Volvo is the only level 2 (9.5 percent of sales in the U.S. European brand in 2002), far behind the leaders, but ahead of the rest.
• Jaguar, Land Rover, Saab, Porsche and are at the bottom at level 3 and combined accounted for 13.8 percent of 2002 European sales nameplate in the U.S.
