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From: wjh@bonnie.UUCP (Bill Hery)
Newsgroups: net.auto
Subject: Re: layman's view of Europe
Message-ID: <591@bonnie.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 21-Oct-85 15:37:16 EDT
Article-I.D.: bonnie.591
Posted: Mon Oct 21 15:37:16 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 22-Oct-85 05:22:58 EDT
References: <932@utcs.uucp>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Whippany NJ
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> 
> A recent trip to Belgium has opened this person's eyes as to
> how limited the North American market is.

Besides the ones you mentioned, some others that I have observed while in 
various pars of europe:

BMW 315, 316, 318(i) 320i,323e all share the same body, but with different engine
options from 1500 to 2300 cc's.  The 315 1nd 316 were significantly less expensive
than the 320i in 1981; assuming the same percentage markup as a 320i 
(admittedly a rash assumption), if the BMW 315 were imported to the US in 1981,
it would have cost about the same as a Honda Accord (and blown BMW's elitist
image).  The 315 was the standard car for the Munich police department at that
time.

Volvo has a smaller car, the 340 series.

Mercedes still sells a 200D in Europe. Lots of cabs are Mercedes.

Volkswagon (Polo), Fiat, Renault, and several others make noticably 
smaller cars than they export to the US.

All the Japanese companies make both smaller and larger cars than are sold in
the US.  The bigger cars look like 20 year old American intermediade sized
cars.

Datsun (Nissan) has used names instead of numbers to designate models in
Europe for years.  The 310 was called the Cherry, and the B-210 and its 
replacement the Sunny.  The European Bluebird used to be the old (pre-73)
510; now it's used for what looks like an 810 (or Maxima).

Bill Hery