German minister to Trump after tax threat: ‘The U.S. needs to build better cars’

[The Sandman]

Forgot protectionism — if President-elect Donald Trump wants U.S. car makers to outdo the likes of BMW and Mercedes-Benz, then the American auto industry needs to step it up a gear, a top German minister has said.

Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s economy minister, was responding to Trump’s warning in an interview that the country’s auto makers will have to pay a 35% tax on every car imported into the U.S.

“When you walk down Fifth Avenue, everybody has a Mercedes-Benz parked in front of his house,” Trump said in an interview with The Times of London and German tabloid Bild. “How many Chevrolets do you see in Germany? Not many, maybe none, you don’t see anything at all over there. It’s a one-way street.”

Gabriel — who as vice-chancellor, is seen as deputy to German leader Angela Merkel — responded by saying the U.S. should focus on building more attractive auto models, rather than penalizing competition.


“The American car industry is getting worse, weaker and more expensive,” Gabriel told Bild on Monday. If U.S. buyers are choosing German models, as Trump suggests, then “that’s why the U.S. needs to build better cars,” he said.

Trump has been on a campaign to get U.S. auto makers such as Ford Motor Co. F, +0.32% and General Motors Co. GM, -0.45% to shift manufacturing jobs from foreign plants back to the U.S. Several car makers have scrapped plans for new plants in locations such as Mexico, or said they would consider doing so in response to Trump’s threat of high border tariffs.

Daimler AG DAI, -1.69% , the maker of Mercedes-Benz cars, and BMW AG BMW, -1.57% are among the German auto companies that have constructed plants in Mexico, with one eye on the U.S. market. Shares of Daimler fell 2% on Monday, while BMW’s stock 2.1% lower.

While GM’s Chevy brand doesn’t have a big presence in Germany, the car giant’s Opel unit last year said that its market share in Germany was roughly 8%. Mercedes-Benz and BMW each have achieved U.S. market shares of about 2%, according to Statista.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ge...-the-us-needs-to-build-better-cars-2017-01-16
lol did he just trolled trump? @django @Zibago @Hell hound @Mentee

 

[Hassan Guy]

 

[somebozo]

The Americans have something which the Germans dont..its called Tesla..if trump is smart..he should work to drastically bring cost of EV batteries down and make Tesla more affordable for everyone..

 

[Little Falcon]

Burn:

 

[Louiq XIV]

The Germans lecturing the US on quality is nothing strange.

The Germanzzz are lecturing the entire world anyway.

 

[damiendehorn]

The US made major tech leaps in the post war period because of the key german ex-nazi researchers.

 

[Louiq XIV]

exceeding in user ranting as compared to any other car

Hmm then it must be a very BAD car

 

[Thəorətic Muslim]

The Americans have something which the Germans dont..its called Tesla..if trump is smart..he should work to drastically bring cost of EV batteries down and make Tesla more affordable for everyone..

Look up the stakeholders of Tesla.

 

[52051]

The Americans have something which the Germans dont..its called Tesla..if trump is smart..he should work to drastically bring cost of EV batteries down and make Tesla more affordable for everyone..

Tesla, like most things in the US, its all hype.

The car is built on a huge array of cheap Li-ion battery imported, and the safety is not up the standard since Li battery not just has a serious fire hazard risk, but also has explosive risk if under heat and pressure, this is the case for even Li composite battery, thats why it is not a wise idea to put several ton such battery under the car you drive like Tesla did so.

US is the best tech hype promoter in the world, it is all about show thats why they elected show-host as their president and one of their most admired president is actually a second-rated actor, it fit their culture well.

 

[gambit]

US is the best tech hype promoter in the world,...

You are correct.

This Internet thingy is grossly overrated. Same for the airplane. Same for the microwave oven. Note that none of these things came from China.

 

[razgriz19]

The Americans have something which the Germans dont..its called Tesla..if trump is smart..he should work to drastically bring cost of EV batteries down and make Tesla more affordable for everyone..

Tesla is alive because of Mercedes.

 

[chauism]

The Americans have something which the Germans dont..its called Tesla..if trump is smart..he should work to drastically bring cost of EV batteries down and make Tesla more affordable for everyone..

Tesla's battery is from Panasonic, and other US auto companies' EV cars use batteries mainly from LG. Large chunk of Tesla's profits actually goes to Panasonic, while Panasonic is making a lot of money from Tesla, Tesla itself is in red. To be fair the price of the EV battery from LG and Panasonic is already very cheap compare to what US company can offer to those car manufacturers. German Auto companies has more than enough tech reserve for EV cars and they already planned a whole lineup of EV cars in the future. Don't forget Germany government already set a date of 2030 that the whole nation will stop selling petrol engine cars. I wonder whether US government will have such determination for those kind of move.