US carmakers accuse EU of blocking supersized pick-up trucks from roads, FT reports
cross-posted from : https://lemmy.zip/post/62186633
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26 replies
good. Keep them in US, we don’t need them
Most of the Dodge Rams just exist to drive under the influence.
My father in law has one. And yes, all the stereotypes are confirmed. You'd think it has an ignition interlock device programmed in reverse, requiring a minimum blood alcohol level to operate. I keep waiting for him to get DUI'd.
Also, cities have special parking enforcement vehicles that will slice the truck to fit into a parking space at the owners expense.
They can't even sell what is a normal-sized pickup truck for the US in Europe. Because there simply isn't any demand beyond that of a handful of people with severe psychological deficits they try to compensate for.
It's simple: they aren't safe. They are a high danger to pedestrians, cyclists, and other road users.
They should require a special license and a legitimate need. No pavement princesses allowed.
I'm confused how they don't already? More than 3500kg gross weight capacity is no longer a class B "car" but a class C/C1 "truck" and require a C1 license
We have already too big cars here in Europe..
Yeah, I'm accusing EU of not banning big pickup trucks & giant SUVs enough.
I see some Ford Ranger Raptors (are they really called that? what a stupid name) in Germany. Those are probably the largest trucks on the road here and they are already way too big for cities, don't fit into any parking spots and so on. Nobody here needs an even larger F-150.
I'm fucking furious that the tankstation owner appears to have a dodge ram that I have to look at every time I head out of the city northbound.
I regularly fantasise about coating it in paintstripper, but a supersoaker would dissolve too fast.
Either that or finding a bunch of dutch language books about insecurity to leave on the windscreen.
They're dangerous and environmentally wasteful.
. "As demand grows for certain vehicle types not commonly found in the EU, such as large pickup trucks"
There is no growth in demand. They sold 7,000, there were 13 million total car sales in 2025 in the EU. US SUV and large pickup truck sales were barely a rounding error.
…and?
Their country. Their rules.
Yeah, historically USA didn't take kindly to that notion.
Thank you, EU
The infrastructure was there two thousand years before we're not destroying that for a monster truck based wasteland.
Guilty as charged. What of it?
Silly auto makers. You have to first capture the whole regulatory body and then you can make demands like that. Not before.
I don't want US trucks on our roads. Keep them in the US! No one needs a vehicle to transport a flock of sheep through downtown. Our cities are small, our roads are narrow. You can use it in your country where you have roads in town like highways here.
Ireland has entered the chat.
Although they would (and do) use an appropriately-sized vehicle for such purposes
The major reason to sell them is specific to the US market anyway.
European countries adopted protectionist tariffs on chicken back in the 1960s. The US adopted counter-tariffs on light trucks. These counter-tariffs remain in force today. This makes domestically-produced light trucks artificially profitable in the US, which means US automakers have an incentive to advocate for policies (laxer emissions rules, more-stringent towing requirements than in Europe, etc) that encourage consumers to purchase pickups and especially larger, more-profitable pickups, as it's very hard for foreign automakers to compete in this specific area.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax
https://www.slashgear.com/1809287/chicken-tax-explained-history-current-impact/
it does make me laugh seeing Americans need a fifth wheel to move what I've seen a transit connect tow on its hitch. Or that time I saw a BMW 2 series convertible towing a caravan bigger than it.
That's completely normal and safe. And Americans are lil' bitches about towing, it would seem. Its either that or decades of automatic gearboxes zero tow rating has lead to the assumption you need a piggup trugg to move anything more than a utility trailer.
They should be banned in North America as a non commercial vehicle. I can't think of a single person here that needs one, it's purely a status symbol.
So many jacked up F350 grocery machines.
It's so obvious that for way way too long the US has gotten away with doing whatever the fuck it wants where ever it wants. It's up to everyone everywhere to stop putting up with the US governments bullshit.
Good, these need to be blocked