What Americans really think about German cars

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What Americans really think about German cars

What Americans really think about German cars-americans

Every brand has its own idea of ​​perfection: This is how Audi Sport presents itself at Monterey Car Week. No trace of the car crisis

Source: Audi Sport GmbH

Donald Trump is inciting against the German auto industry, but the American car enthusiast is cold. How a US petrolhead with four Audis in the garage assesses the state of our auto industry.

E.n times a year a small town on the Californian Pacific coast is transformed into a horsepower paradise. The climax of the Monterey Car Week is the Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach, the world’s most important beauty pageant for classic cars.

Hundreds of Americans have already met for the show “Legends of the Autobahn“To show off their German cars and praise German engineering. This is what the American associations at BMW are doing-, Mercedes- and Audi-Lovers together. The German debates about the future of the car are quite far away here, as a conversation with the Audi fan and co-organizer Patrick O’Neal shows.

PS world: Mister O’Neal, you call your event “Legends of the Autobahn“That is very flattering for us Germans. Why do patriotic Americans profess German engineering??

Patrick O’Neal: It’s a matter of quality. German engineering seems to offer the higher quality over long periods of time, both in development and in production. Italian cars, for example, don’t show the same focus on excellent engineering.

PS world: What kind of cars are you showing at your show??

What Americans really think about German cars-americans

Monterey Car Week is a Mecca for car lovers

Source: Audi Sport GmbH

Patrick O’Neal: Old and new – the special thing is that they are almost exclusively owner cars, i.e. those that are owned and driven by the club members – except for Mercedes, which have a lot of very special stuff. They take this very seriously and travel from meeting to meeting with museum pieces.

However, we are also working on special pieces with Audi of America. This year we have a current R8 LMS Ultra and two S4 Competitions from 2001. In total, the three clubs are showing 700 cars here, and around 3000 spectators come.

PS world: Is there competition or friendship between the clubs?

Patrick O’Neal: Friendly competition, I would say – there is friendly competition above all about how exclusive the show cars that we can show are. Last year we had the R18, the Le Mans racing car, that was the star of the show. But we’re all friends because we all love German cars.

PS world: What do you like about Audi?

Patrick O’Neal: The cars are just different. I think it’s the mix of technical features, subtle design and suitability for everyday use. I have a 2012 TT RS, a very fast 340hp car, but I can use it every day. I can use it to go shopping. My wife and I drove it 860 miles from Seattle to Monterey in two days.

There aren’t many high-performance cars that can also be used as a means of transport. I have to admit, whenever we buy a car, we don’t just stop by the Audi dealer. When we bought our A4 Avant a few years ago, we were also interested in a BMW. But they are not that spacious inside.

VW manager in US custody wants to plead guilty

The VW manager Oliver Schmidt, who is in custody for the emissions scandal in the USA, apparently wants to plead guilty. Schmidt was arrested shortly before returning from a Florida vacation. Source: N24

PS world: You are touched by the diesel scandal in which your Audi brand is involved?

Patrick O’Neal: No not at all. Personally, I think it was an unethical management decision to cheat – but if I have a diesel wanted to buy, I would still do that. I know a lot of people who drive a diesel Audi and they are happy with their car. In connection with the exhaust gas fraud, I think more of the employees who are now affected by the bad decisions made by their management.

PS world: What is your personal Diesel story??

Patrick O’Neal: Well, I own four Audis and none of them have a diesel engine. I think about a diesel every time I want a new car, but I haven’t bought one yet. Most of my Audi friends also drive petrol, only one has a diesel. It turned out that you can even race with a diesel. We are all very disappointed that Audi has withdrawn from Le Mans.

PS world: Where you won for many years with a diesel racing car.

Patrick O’Neal: Yes, exactly, most recently with a diesel hybrid. In this competition, the diesel has reached a high technical level. It’s a real shame he’s not there anymore.

What Americans really think about German cars-german

Many Americans dream of the German Autobahn. In their minds there are neither traffic jams nor speed limits

Source: Getty Images

PS world: How do you see Audi’s future??

Patrick O’Neal: Every brand has its own idea of ​​perfection, and things will continue to improve for Audi as they build premium cars that are suitable for everyday use. Mercedes makes too many frills for me, and BMW is not that comfortable.

PS world: There is a political mood in Europe that is against all combustion technology. Some countries do not want to allow cars with internal combustion engines at all in the foreseeable future – and Tesla, too serves as a model. How do you see that?

Patrick O’Neal: Yes, Tesla is part of the future. But the whole future? No way.

PS world: Why not?

Patrick O’Neal: We’re just not quite as green as you are in Europe.

PS world: Compare German and American cars.

Patrick O’Neal: The American cars are getting better, but are not yet as good as the German cars, but rather on a par with the Japanese. Well, when you’re spending your money on something, you want to make sure you’re getting as much value out of every dollar as you can. I’ve always been a fan of European cars. The Americans just aren’t good enough – sounds pretty unpatriotic, which?

PS world: The name "Legends of the Autobahn" contains a promise that Americans cannot legally keep. How do you go about the strict speed limits in your country?

Patrick O’Neal: We run track events on a regular basis, so we race tracks – that’s the best thing you can do if you really care about driving. America also has a lot of very sparsely populated areas, and sometimes people drive pretty briskly there.

I live in Newcastle near Seattle in the summer, but in the winter my wife and I are in Arizona near Phoenix, and on the way there are stretches in the desert where you can drive 100 miles. People here are driving faster than you think.

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7 thoughts on “What Americans really think about German cars”

  1. American cars on par with the Japanese – he doesn’t really mean that ?
    At Toyota, Nissan and Co. you will laugh heartily at such a statement ..:!

    Reply

  2. No, the American car lovers do not leave the debate indifferent. See the double-digit decline in sales from BMW. Mercedes is also stagnating. Audi alone is growing on the American market. Strange

    Reply

  3. Perhaps it has less to do with the debate than with the fact that AUDI hits the taste buds of the US market better than BMW or Daimler

    Reply

  4. A sympathetic article. For the majority of American car buyers, however, the combination of space, reliability and practicality is in the foreground. And that’s why the three best-selling cars are full-size pickups that comfortably transport many occupants and even more luggage / cargo over long distances and at least 350,000 miles. No Audi can do that.
    Driving a car is very pleasant in the USA, the people are less aggressive than in Germany, you are relaxed and with around 70-80 mph (most always drive a little faster than allowed, speed traps are rare) you can get there fast enough aim.

    Reply

  5. My impression of driving a car in the USA is very similar, only with the speed traps I would be very careful. There certainly are, and the penalties are much more severe than in this country. There, frenzy is not considered a trivial offense, but rather being accepted by accident victims – and rightly so!

    Reply

  6. A nice interview with a sympathetic atomic enthusiast. Among other things, I liked this answer to the Audi fraud: "Personally, I think it was an unethical management decision to cheat." Well – but the fish stinks from the head, even at Audi. And he is still in office and dignity. As long as Stadler is in charge, I’ll avoid this brand.

    Reply

  7. An Audi fan is here on behalf of "the American" used. That can only be a joke. You can tell from the sales figures how they really think! And that’s where Lexus dominates at Premium.

    Reply

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