When naming the greatest automaking nations in history, it's impossible to leave the US off the list. Over the last century, American automakers like Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler have built many iconic cars that gearheads across the globe know and love.Japanese cars have overtaken American cars in worldwide sales and preference. Why is this the case, you may ask? Well, American cars are plagued by certain problems that make them unlovable not only to the rest of the world but also to Americans themselves. Let's explore the most common issues with American cars.
However, American cars have always been considered inferior to European cars, and even10 Frequent Recalls
Every year, millions of cars are recalled due to potentially dangerous flaws. While these recalls don't apply to American cars only, they do seem to have a higher rate than other countries. In addition, the seriousness of the recalls is generally higher for American cars.
For example, Ford had to recall more than 2.5 million cars in 2020 for door latch and brake issues that could have led to catastrophic accidents. Even the F-150 pickup truck - one of the best-selling vehicles in history - was affected by these recalls.
9 Reliability Issues
Reliability is one of the major factors consumers consider before buying a car, as it can have huge financial implications. Although American cars have improved in reliability in recent decades, they still lag far behind their foreign rivals, particularly Japanese automakers.
According to Consumer Reports, six out of the ten least reliable car brands in 2020 were American. The least reliable brand was Ford's luxury division Lincoln. Coming in second was Tesla, which might come as a surprise to many gearheads, considering Tesla makes electric cars.
8 Poor Designs
Saying Americans make ugly cars may seem strange when the nation has given us absolute beauties like the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray. However, for every beautiful American car, there are countless others that look like they were designed by preschool kids.
For example, cars like the horrid Pontiac Aztek, the Chrysler PT Cruiser, and the AMC Pacer should never have made it past the concept stage. And it's not just old cars that have terrible designs - just look at the upcoming Tesla Cybertruck and try to imagine what the designers were thinking.
7 Lack of Sportiness
For the longest time, the American formula for building sports cars was equipping them with the largest possible engine and leaving everything else to fate. The result was cars that looked and sounded sporty from the outside but didn't have the driving feel of sports cars.
There are some excellent American sports cars — such as the C8 and C7 Corvettes, the Hennessey Venom series, and the Ford GT — but they can barely compete against the likes of Lamborghini, Ferrari, and Porsche in terms of sportiness. Even Japanese sports cars are arguably better than most American performance cars.
6 Cheap Interiors
American automakers have never been good at designing interiors. Even cars marketed as luxury models will still have cheap plastic dashboards and synthetic fabrics instead of the high-quality leather and wood finishes you find in European luxury cars.
This happens because American automakers don't take nearly as much time as Europeans when building luxury cars. While the Rolls-Royces and Ferraris are taking weeks or even months to make a single car, American automakers want theirs out of the door as soon as possible.
5 Inefficient Engines
For many decades, gas was super cheap in the US, and nobody was aware of the harmful effects of vehicle emissions. As a result, American automakers didn't have to worry much about fuel economy.
Though times have changed and emission requirements have been introduced in the US, American cars are still losing to foreign rivals in terms of mpg figures.
4 They're Too Big
It's no secret that Americans love big cars. Look at the top three best-selling vehicles in America — it's all massive pickup trucks that can easily occupy two parking spaces. For this reason, it's almost impossible to find an American car in Europe or Asia.
And it's not just the modern American cars that may be considered to be too big. When tiny cars like the Volkswagen Beetle and Mini were dominating the European vehicle markets in the 50s, the American market was dominated by large Cadillacs with hoods and tail fins that seemed to stretch for miles.
3 They're Terribly Under-Engineered
When it comes to engineering, European manufacturers are light years ahead of Americans. Europeans know how to build cars that perform exceptionally well, which explains why they dominate all kinds of motorsports.
One thing that shows this engineering disparity clearly is the size of engines. For example, a C8 Corvette powered by a 6.2-liter naturally aspirated V8 generates less power (495 hp) than a Ferrari 458 Speciale (597 hp) using a 4.5-liter naturally aspirated V8.
2 Even Americans Don't Want Them
According to a report by Forbes, eleven out of the twenty best-selling cars in the US in 2020 are all made by Japanese manufacturers. This shows that even American consumers prefer Japanese cars to their own.
The reasons why many Americans prefer foreign cars have already been discussed above. However, one reason we've not covered is the price. A few years ago, American-made cars were much cheaper compared to foreign cars, but now the price difference is becoming less noticeable.
1 Poor Handling
Another issue that American cars have suffered from for years is poor handling. Admittedly, muscle cars and pickup trucks were never made for handling, but even some Corvettes were a handful, as was the iconic Dodge Viper — which is considered to be one of the greatest sports cars of the '90s.
Several factors cause poor handling in American cars. For instance, manufacturers equip their cars with massive engines and don't put enough time and effort into ensuring their cars can handle such power. Another issue is cost — most American cars are built for the masses, which means manufacturers don't focus too much on handling.